FGM's wish for 2013.

Happy New Year to the entire chess community.

Before I tell you what my wish is for the new year, let me define what I mean by wish. I do not believe in sitting down and hoping for my wishes to come true by divine intervention but by finding actionable steps that I can take to make that wish come true.

So let me take you back to the conversations I had during NJ with parents, trainers and players alike. Somebody came up to me and asked me to be a one stop center for complaints about MCF. I said I won't do that. That is not the point. Then somebody else complaint that KLCA has done nothing for KL chess. And yet somebody else said that there is now a disciplinary committee for MCF and they have written a demand letter to Megat, the Treasurer of MCF etc etc.

Note: All different people mind you.

Ok, ok, we all know there is a big problem with MCF. So what can we do if lets say our wish list for 2013 is for clean and fair selection, to stop the illegal banning of our players, for a MCF that is transparent and properly governed?

Let us go back to the rules of chess. This is what I tell my players. If your opponent has made an illegal move, you must put up you hand and call for the arbiter. The point is only you can do that. You cannot complain to your coach after the game is lost. What can I do? There is a proper system to address this issue and so you must learn to use that system. If you are not satisfied with the ruling of the arbiter, then ask for the chief arbiter. If you are still not satisfied then make an appeal to the appeals committee. The players must take that responsibility for once the clock has started the coach cannot do anything more. Do you see the analogy?

So how does this reflect on what I am saying about my wish? Ok, lets go back to the constitution of MCF again. Here.  I am not going to go through this article by article. I think you should do that yourself if it is important to you. What does it say? Doesn't it say that the AGM is the highest decision making body? Doesn't it say that the affiliates can propose resolutions that is binding on the committee?

So why fret about the ultra vires acts of the current committee? Doesn't the constitution say how the committee/sub committee must be constituted? Doesn't it say who can be Chairman? Doesn't it say that the power granted to the sub committee must come from explicit terms mandated by the main committee? So know the rules. If the rules have been broken, then reject it at the AGM. Just like in a chess tournament, put up your hand and object.

You do not have to adopt their accounts if you are not satisfied with it. You do not have to worry about disciplinary action by an illegally constituted disciplinary committee. Reject their findings and censure their actions at the AGM. That is the proper way.

Propose and pass resolutions at the AGM. No more back doors and kup chai's playing for Malaysia. Propose for more State representation on the committee in order to have a national strategy. So why worry about what those few people are doing?

If even one State affiliate disagrees with the accounts say, that affiliate can forward that complaint to COS. Everything is already provided in the structure of COS to stop this nonsense. All you need to do is to use it.

My friends, you are the players in that game, so know the rules. You cannot keep running to the coach to solve all your problems. Put up your hands when your rights have been transgressed upon.

You see, if we the adults cannot do this, then how can we teach our children to call for the arbiter? Can we hope that their opponent will call for the arbiter and volunteer that they have made an illegal move? We cannot, can we?

So if your rights have been taken away then you put up your hand and complain according to the rules. Stop sitting down and hoping your opponent or your coach or anybody else will solve your problems for you. Your opponent won't and your coach cannot. He has no power once the clock has started. It is really up to you.

If you think KLCA is not an Association, then get a resolution passed that defines what a State Affiliate must do to be allowed to be or to remain one. These are not insurmountable problems. If your rights as a player has been taken away then write to your State Association and then cc that complaint to MCF and COS if no action is taken.

Do that for our children will follow our examples and not just what we say. If you cannot stand up and demand your rights according to the constitution then your children will not. If your State cannot stand up for their rights then their State players will not.

Gangsters work by intimidating you while they steal away your rights. If there are gangsters in MCF supporting the gangsters outside, then don't elect them in again. The power is with you. But you must use it. You must put up your own hands.

So my friends, that is my wish for you for 2013. Courage to make the difference. And if you can do that, I am very sure our GM is not far away. That my friends are the true lessons of chess. So don't just say you love the game and want a GM but expect your opponents or your coach to do it all for you. It's really up to you. All I can do is to show you the door. You need to do the work yourself. That is the nature of the game.

Lets welcome 2013 in together with a new spirit. The true spirit of Malaysia Boleh. Not just the slogan.

Attacking chess from Singapore's 64th National Championships.

Here.

If I may, I would like to highlight the fact that if you are a continuously improving chess player then there is no need to hide your games as seen above.

National Junior- A FGM evaluation and commentary-Conclusion.

I said that if we are to evaluate accurately what actually happened at this National Junior we will begin to understand the deep malaise afflicting Malaysian chess. Ref: Here. And to do that we must also look at the actors behind the scenes.

So why would Jimmy omit the fact that his player had also played Mark and that Mark is playing almost totally new openings at NJ? (Jimmy didn't know that I was informed about his player during NJ. This information was supposed to be protected under the OSA) This is also not taking into consideration that the last classical tournament that Mark played in, was exactly a year ago at NJ 2011.

So why didn't Jimmy evaluate his own player as well and why can't Peter give a genuine and sincere congratulations to Yit San and Li Ting without his toxic barbs?

To see this misdirection and subterfuge to hide what is really going on lets go back to the results of NJ. Here. I am not going to mention the names of their players (who are innocent) but those who know the players concerned will see this clearly. Where are their players on the rankings?

Was the whole evaluation by Jimmy done so that we cannot see that?

Now wouldn't you think that with the way they deride others and taut their own prowess that their players should be at the very top? With their extra 30 years of knowledge each and the extra one year lead time I have given them, to show us something spectacular at NJ 2012. So why are they paid to give this type of results? What is the value of their "M"?

So there is something seriously wrong. Let us turn to the results of Penang Open now. Here. If Jimmy had played there and not pulled out, where do you think he would be in the rankings? If Peter had played? Why didn't they field Li Tian at NJ? Would the weaker field there have produced a different result? If more players are content with a draw.

That is why they need distorted evaluations and toxic congratulations. They have nothing more.

Is this a harsh evaluation? Yes, it is. But why do I need to be harsh? Let me try to explain. If it is just their own opinion and just blowing their own horns, it is harmless. The table will eventually show the truth given enough time. But these people do not do that. They attack anyone who is trying to make a difference or searching for answers to improve. You saw them attacking Zhuo Ren and Sumant. You saw them trying to ban Mark. And you saw them attacking the training provided to our Juniors by GM Ziaur. Now this has crossed a boundary. But even that is not so serious. That is really still just their opinion.

What is more serious? It becomes very serious when they have collusion and support within MCF to do this. (It's like both the gangsters and the police ganging up against the players). 

What is Jimmy today? He cannot play and he cannot train strong players. His only relevance is that he is able to facilitate the back doors. What about Peter? He has some trick openings which will probably work till around U12 in the International circuit but will bomb at the U16 level. That is my opinion after studying what his players have learnt from him. And Jimmy has a good understanding of end games. So they are not totally useless but they are not what they say they are either. They are not complete and they do not have what it takes to win in today's chess and they will not try to improve. But I will not use them for the simple reason that they are toxic and will infect our players with their fears.

The fact is that the Junior players that are making it today are those trained by themselves or their parents, trained in China or trained by some good trainers in Penang. I even had a parent thank me for recommending Jax Tham for her child has improved under him. But no players by them.

Talking about parents, they best resemble a Coach. Non playing or playing at a lower level perhaps. But they have this is common. They care for and nurture their players. And so they delve deeply into how to develop strong players. A parent cares for his/her child. A coach merely extends this to care for the development of all the players under their care.

I think we can clearly see the results that are produced by coaches/parents and the results that are produced by trainers like Jimmy and Peter. So why use them if you want to succeed? What do you think is their driving motive?

We must also investigate why MCF abandon our players after U16. Why don't they support the development of the U20 Juniors after so much work and investment has been put into them. When they are just about to be able to challenge the seniors if given another year or two of development. Does this indicate collusion to sabotage our real players and replace them with kup chai's? Otherwise why support these deadbeats? Should't they know by now that Jimmy just can't play anymore? Why did they send him to the Olympiads via the back door and over much stronger players than him?

Do you think that the reason why the buletin for NC2012 did not come out this year is because they need to hide the results of the President's choice? Can Jimmy accomplish this on his own?

How can MCF justify those decisions that looks very much like deliberate sabotage? How do you justify the selection for the representation of the Country by players who do not even dare to compete anymore?

Why indeed was such a powerful MCF resource as GM Ziaur Rahman given to a "trainer" of U8's like Najib? At best he is a fairly professional arbiter. The answers to these questions must be searched for and the solution found if we are to progress.

There is nothing wrong with our players even if they don't become GM's by 15 as they keep trying to fool us. There is something very wrong with them. 

I think this must be very strong evidence that points to the fact that our Juniors are actively sabotaged and only because a few of us are asking hard questions today and demanding for answers that their attacks seem to be receding. Otherwise why the desperate need to hide? Perhaps it is only because AGM is coming. You think? They want the mandate to do the same thing for another 30 years?

So think on this if you really want to see our own GM. Most of our players cannot withstand the kind of attacks that they launch from within. Some of our players and parents still think that these guys are on the same team. And that is the danger. They are not. They do not care who they destroy to keep their perks and their free holidays. The more destruction they wreak the more benefits they receive from their supporters in MCF.

Isn't it much much more obvious now? Or do you still need more evidence? Forget the personalities. This is also not about them. They are merely examples. Support the issues. Support clean and open selection. Support the stopping of illegal bannings. Support transparent and proper governance of MCF. These few people have sabotaged enough of our players and Malaysian chess for far far too long now. It's time for a change. It's time to send out Malaysian players that can stand tall and fight for their place in an International arena. It's time we become proud of our fighters and not the back door artists.

Let this be our resolution for 2013. After all, we have all survived the mayan "end of the world". So this will be a breeze to do.

And this blog is dedicated to that end. Our first GM, without fear or favour.

National Junior- A FGM evaluation and commentary-Part 2.

Ref: Here.

You can see from the unsolicited comments in the link above from Norlito, a Fide instructor and father of a Filipino National Junior that the journey of dropping safe openings and transitioning into sharp lines and main line theories is a must if our own Juniors are to progress further. But we didn't have Norlito's insights at the time of our investigation.

So let me take you back to a conversation that Mark had with Yit San and Yit Ho just over a year ago. Mark shared that he was changing his openings to main lines as he was fed up of the staid lines he was playing and wanted richer openings. Now if you are playing actively then a good way to transition would be to do it one opening at a time. But shortly after that conversation Mark was locked down for STPM. Both good and bad in a way. Bad because he had no way of testing his new lines in a proper tournament but good because we could use the little time we had between his studies to complete the transition.

And so for that one year that we laid off, we saw that Yit San was also transitioning. And we saw that he didn't do so well till it all came together at this National Junior. So good for him. That is the way and you need to take the hits till your weapons become stress tested.

As for Mark, he had to struggle with whether to go back to his safe and tested lines or to use his new and untested lines at National Junior this year. I suggested that he does not turn back but to forge forward. And there is no better way of showing up bugs in his new openings than National Junior.

And so I now see at least 2 Juniors who are moving in what I believe to be the correct route. And I am gratified that at least one Filipino Fide instructor with a successful Junior openly agrees with my evaluation.

I asked Mark, what is the hurry? The nature of the Juniors journey is like this. In any one year some of them will be in an exam year and will have to slow down or stop. And so we will see changes in the top rankings. And this will continue till they have completed their studies and find the time to commit to chess if that is what they want. The aim is always to improve your chess. The aim is never to try for the short cuts and back doors. Why? It is simply because if you do then you will end up like those that uses the Jimmy method.

So why do I say that Jimmy has a hidden agenda for his extremely biased evaluation? That is because Jimmy also entered his own player. And his player played with Mark. So he knows or should know that Mark has changed his openings. But Jimmy does not have the honesty of declaring this in his evaluation. Instead I saw Najib making a side remark on Jimmy's blog that there is a dark horse in the tournament. So they were hoping for some sort of ambush and then presumably Jimmy can then come up and claim that his player won the day. But it did not work out for them that way.

Btw Jimmy, that opening Mark played against your player was the first time he ever played it in a Tournament. And that goes for some of the other openings he played at NJ. I am quite satisfied with that result although we have to do repairs on his other lines.

But I can understand why you don't declare your player. We have seen it before with Peter. Only make the claim after "your player" has won. If not then you deny they were ever your player. Why this way? After all you say you have 30 plus years to my 2. Why not be proud of your players? Then show us how you have developed them. This way we cannot see how many you have burned before you make a claim of success, if any. And why did you put in this player instead of Li Tian, Jimmy? Care to explain your reasoning?

And Peter, that is a very toxic congratulations to Yit San? You know very well that none of our players will do well at the Asian and World Junior level for the reason that they are transitioning late after having been mislead by you guys for all this time. Besides Yit San is new to that level of competition. The best that we can hope for is that he continues to improve after the exposure. And to increase the chance of that happening he needs to be accompanied by a team of U20 Juniors. We have seen what happens when we send our players out one at a time. Ref: here.

Why don't you sit down and reflect on how your players did at NJ, Peter, instead of saying you want to see how Yit San will do at Asian and World Junior? Wouldn't that be more productive instead of the sight seeing and rubbish talking like you did at World Youth etc?

So are you guys really for Malaysian chess? It looks like you are setting our players up for failure. Why is this? Is it so that you guys can still try to get in to play for the senior squad via the back door and get your free holidays by knocking all our Juniors out (including the ones you say you are "training")?

Let me tell you this. Your free places are going to be over soon. There are a few strong players coming up now. We saw this in Penang also. No matter what you do, they will continue improving and you guys are history. So you can stop your antics now. Many many people now know you to be the frauds you are.

Why do it this way? If you want a holiday then earn the money for it and go yourself. Why pretend to be chess players and steal the place from the real chess players? If you want to be a trainer then train your players well. Why train them for PR stunts and then get them in via the back door because you know they cannot compete? Why not be proud of your players and announce them instead of teaching them how to hide in the dark? Have you no confidence in your own abilities despite you saying you have 30 years to my 2? So tell me. How can I help you to stand tall and be proud of yourself and your players? I have already shared a lot of my methods here to give you guys a chance to catch up. What more do you want me to do to help you improve? Tell me and I will consider.

National Junior- A FGM evaluation and commentary- Part 1.

Ref: Here.

I have said above that Jimmy's evaluation is biased and it hides a hidden agenda. Lets see why I have said that.

To understand my viewpoint clearly we need to go back a little. So let us go back to the conversation I had with Zhuo Ren, Sumant and Mark during SEA games training at my home. There I tried to anchor a key concept of strategy with them. This is what I said. I told them that unless they have the weapons to beat the players lower rated than themselves, no strategy can be applied. By this I mean mental strength, discipline as well as correct openings. Lets see why.

You cannot climb up the ladder if you beat a player stronger than you and then lose to a player weaker than you. Look carefully. Is that where our Juniors are stalling?

The way forward is to have the weapons that can beat all players lower rated than you, have a weapon to draw against higher rated players and a special weapon to beat players stronger than you under the right circumstances. Then you have traction up the hill.

Mental strength and discipline aside, this means a more thorough investigation of openings. A major clue to this was when we analysed Li Tian's performance at NJ 2010. There we found that he was drawing too much and so could not reach the final play offs. So how does Li Tian win? He can win against stronger players simply because he has drawish weapons and his stronger opponents takes unreasonable risks, probably due to underestimation, to win against him.

But on the flip side, he is also hard pressed to win against lower rated players when his opponent is content with a draw. We saw this at NJ2010, we saw this in his game against Yit Ho in NC 2011 and I was told the same thing happened in his game against Roshan at NC 2012. He tried to win from a drawn position and lost. So this a problem that he will have to face when he tries to move up the ladder. This is the same problem that many of our seniors are facing. And that is why some of them have stalled and afraid of competition today. They went down the wrong road in the past by playing safe drawish openings and now with their high Fide ratings they cannot move forward without changing their openings and playing sharp lines and main line theories. And so they are now trapped by their own egos with so much wasted time.

But they still insist on taking our juniors down that failed road. And what they do to hide their wrong system is to do PR campaigns, not allow their players to play in certain tournaments that will show up their weakness and by putting down and attacking the juniors who are now changing direction and taking the proper routes.

But you know what? When the Juniors do that, correct their routes, they will take a hit in terms of Fide rating as they perfect their new weapons, they will lose some tournaments as they sharpen their new tools. But they will come out stronger in the end.

Think on this. If you want to beat Li Tian today, then the best strategy for the juniors is to fight for a draw and beat him in the tournament and not the game for the time being. He will draw one round too many against others if this strategy is applied and you can pip him in the tournament rankings if you have winning weapons against the rest.

Also consider this. What will happen to Li Tian if he tries for a GM run with his current weaponry, and what will happen to his Fide rating if he was to change his weaponry now? Isn't it better to do it the right way when you are still young and so succeed later? What are his adult advisers, the so called "M" trainers doing to him? Isn't that the reason why he was a no show at NJ 2011 and 2012? He is not the strongest Junior. His "trainers" know this after NJ2010. He has too many weaknesses. And the same weaknesses showed up again in NC2012. He is the product of a PR campaign to fulfil a hidden agenda. The strongest Juniors 2012 is Fong Yit San and Tan Li Ting. More later.

P2 coming soon.

Important announcement.

Ref: Here.

Hazard warning. The link above leads to a very toxic site and only visit if you are ready to see what these people subject our young chess players to.

But if you really want to know why Malaysian chess has reached such historic lows then you need to go no further than a proper evaluation of the recent National Junior. Without objective evaluation or postmortems you cannot arrive at the basis for improvement. So that is the very first thing you want from your coach. If he is unable to evaluate objectively then he will be unable to take your child any further and will be addressing the wrong problems.

So I will be doing this shortly as soon as I have cleared up a little more work. In the meantime do think of what the National Junior is supposed to be about. The National Junior is meant to find the strongest Juniors in Malaysia for the current year. This means any player under 20 can play for that honour. So you can be 12yo for instance and still be the strongest Junior for that year by beating any other player at 20yo for instance.

As such it can highlight exceptional talent outside of age groups. And so one would think it is logical that more emphasis will be put on this group as opposed to the age groups. For really it is within this group that we will find the players for the new senior team for they will be the very closest in terms of the completion of skills and knowledge for that challenge.

I will leave you with this question before I return with a complete evaluation together with examples of competitor analysis.

The question is why do we send out 4 official players for age group events and only one National Junior for International competition?

To look at this question intelligently you must also realise that MCF does not offer any sponsorship to any Junior players, age group or otherwise. The money for the trips are arranged by the parents. So why only send out one player at Junior level indeed when there is no output from MCF at all? What does MCF lose? And now it looks like the policy is only to support the players by arranging International Tournaments only up to U16. Does this make any sense?

Note: There is sponsorship for the senior team arranged by MCF. This is a big clue to the above policy that now involves MCF, the sponsors and the senior players.

Another fact you must also know is that the greatest amount of learning the Juniors get is when they are pitched against International competitors as a group. By this I mean that when it is likely that any of them may face the same competitor, then what happens is that the players will join forces and share knowledge in order to take on the superior players from overseas with access to much better support than our Malaysian players have. I saw this happen at Asean 2010 and to an extent at Asian Youth 2011.

Think this through and you will understand much better what I have to say about the National Junior and why we have gone from teaching China at one time to where we are today. See you again soon.

Christmas greetings with gift suggestions.

To our Christian readers,

Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
   --  Oren Arnold

Biased evaluation and comments on NJ with a hidden agenda.

Do read this here. If you have the time, do also read Jimmy's coverage of the event in his earlier posts. I am not going to say anything now but I will give my evaluation later. Read this first and see if you can spot where all the misdirections are before I put up my evaluation. Then compare after I have posted and weigh the matter for yourself.

A tribute to a chess family.

I woke up this morning with an email informing me that Cikgu Sabirin and wife Puan Halina , including 2 daughters Siti Khadijah and Siti Aishah were involved in a fatal accident. If I am not mistaken I think I saw Cikgu Sabirin at Datcc during the last day of NJ. Such a tragic loss.

Other sites carrying the story. Here and here.

The Strongest Malaysian Juniors 2012.

A very very big Congratulations to NJM Fong Yit San and NWJM Tan Li Ting.

The undisputed strongest Malaysian male and female junior for the year 2012. 

I will write a deeper evaluation later but let me just mention a few things here quickly. It was an honour to take part in this well fought event after absence from Tournament chess for a complete year apart from a rapid event at Datmo mid year. This year Jimmy had also enrolled one of his students to contest as well. Good for you Jimmy. So we had students from Jimmy, Jax Tham, Peter and FGM entered Mark. This is the way. Contest on the table and not via PR campaigns and designed fat numbers to make dubious claims. Unconstitutional bannings of strong players produced by others just because you cannot produce strong players yourself should also be addressed by MCF.

The table has spoken for this year and all should accept the results and acclaim these 2 Champions as our strongest Juniors 2012.

A well run Tournament and Najib should be proud of this event.

Website for NJ

Here.

I am not at all sure if this website will be manned at all since even the so called Malaysian Chess Portal has been suspended. But check it out just in case.

Penang Open- A FGM commentary.

Results here.

First off let me congratulate FM Ronnie Lim, Li Tian and Ng Tze Han for that fine run and making us proud to be Malaysian chess players.

Now for the harder stuff. What is the value of a "M"? To me all it says is that you were strong at one time in history. Apart from that it doesn't mean much. If it means as much as what Jimmy says then our own hero Jun Feng would not be just below GM Bitoon. I am sure that somewhere in the tournament Jun Feng could have found another half point if he looks back, all else remaining constant.

So it should be clear from the results that iron sharpens iron. We need the players representing our Country to go through tough selection to stay sharp or they will soon lose their competitive edge. We all need to wake up from the spell Jimmy has been casting on us to get to go to the Olympiad this year.

Now for Li Tian's fine run. Please note I am not against Li Tian. I have always thought highly of him as a chess player. I am just not in favour of how his advisers are managing his success.

This is what I think. I looked at Eng Chiams run too. What is happening to him? Obviously Li Tian is benefiting from his exposure at the Olympiad but there is more than just that. He also took with him the energy from being selected instead of Eng Chiam and others. I cannot help wondering if Eng Chiam had been given that energy from his strong run at National Close, would he have done better at Penang Open too?

If Sumant did not withdraw from NC 2012 in the mistaken belief that he stood a better chance of being selected if he did not compete, would our history now be different? What was he taught not to do when he won his place at SEA games in a fair and open competition by MCF and Jimmy?

So the question now is, if it is about the juniors chess or is it about politics that determines their traction?

So to me Li Tians achievement today must now be tainted. To me what this says about his advisers is that they think Li Tian is more important than any of the other kids. That someone else's sacrifice and work means nothing to them. That some other persons child means nothing to them. This is not good. This is pure arrogance. I think the malay word for this type of action, zalim, may be more descriptive.

Li Tian is a fine player so why don't they just believe in him and let him get selected on merit? He does not need to win in this way. Let the table decide.

So I hope he will be present at NJ to stake his claim as the strongest Junior in Malaysia. Win there and no one will say otherwise. He will be the strongest Junior for the year. And then the following year the table will decide again.

Isn't that a better way than the back doors and PR campaigns and taking away from the rights of your fellow players. I don't think this has happened because Li Tian lacks the skills or the confidence. I think this happened because it is his adult advisers who lacks the confidence in their own abilities.

Preparing for NJ.

This blog will be quiet for a while till after NJ 2012. All my best to those fighting Malaysians in Penang. I don't remember so many Malaysians on the top tables in the last round, in an International field, before. This is fantastic. Very well done Penang for organising this event.

Happy 40th Anniversary!!

May you have many many more great years to come. You deserve it.

A King's chessboard.

Ref: Here.

Amazing what the chessboard of a real King is worth.

Another Tournament further North in Kedah on Dec. 29th.

See details here

Actually haven't been so far North to play before. Hmmmmmm.

A brand new senior team in the making.

Ref: Here.

Amazing run by Li Tian. It looks like we are beginning to see the seeds of a brand new senior team. If MCF still brings back in the deadwoods after this impressive demonstration of fighting spirit by the Malaysian players in Penang Open (in open competition) then we must really call their judgement into serious question.

We look forward to seeing Li Tian at NJ in healthy competition.

Yet another reason why Malaysia does not have her own GM- Energy Vampires.

The reasons. Here.

Another reason. Here.

The players need energy from self belief to win Tournaments. When the clock starts they are on their own. And this is how their energy is robbed by energy Vampires.

Lets look at how Jimmy, Peter, Alen and Irwan etc argues. They do not engage in balanced arguments. What they do is to try to fixate on a perceived weakness and then pound it again and again repeatedly like a mantra.

So they keep saying I do not play chess and totally blank out the fact that I have produced a National Junior or that I have put a Junior into the senior squad via an open selection. They also ignore the very obvious fact that I must consult with stronger technical trainers than them but who subscribes to my philosophy. My trainers know their limitations and are willing to take instructions from the coach who sees the bigger picture. After all I know my players best for it is me who built them up.

They keep pounding on the fact that Mark had agreed to an 'illegal" draw once in 2010 after so many years of competition in one moment of weakness. They totally ignore the fact that no child is born mentally strong. Mental strength comes with time and careful nurturing. It's a process of learning.

So why do they do this? Why are they unable to think rationally at all? I submit this argument for your consideration.

It's called energy transfer. The people who do this sort of thing just simply cannot generate their own energy from their own achievements or results and so they must take the energy from our players and others. They do this by trying to raise themselves up to their illusory "Godhood" status by the simple process of keeping others down. Ergo, the glass ceiling.

They do this because they are bankrupt of ideas. And that is why these type of people need to fix matches, ban their way to "success" after draining all the energy from their own players. They have no other way to achieve results to gain energy for themselves since "success" is a great boost of energy.

And so they must put down, they must pretend to be stupid and not see your achievements or results. For if they do then they cannot keep their delusions of grandeur.

Look at the players who got into the clutches of the energy Vampires. I think you will see this pattern. Their technical may improve but they will play weaker and weaker chess over time.

With their spirit and energy intact what you will see is the players playing stronger and stronger chess with improvements in their technical understanding.

These guys offer you the short cuts not because they care about you. It's all about their egos and self aggrandisement. They not only have nothing to offer you but they will keep you pinned down. So why use them? Why not use technical trainers/coaches who build you up instead?

In this way, these guys have taken the GM's out from the inside of our extremely talented and gifted players. In this way they have destroyed Malaysian chess. Can you remember who else they have robbed in this way?

Note: And then the ones that took the back doors offered (think poison pawn) are also robbed of their personal achievement from their own effort. And then they too can eventually become the next generation of energy Vampires. You think? Isn't this the cycle that have kept us backwards for so many many years?

Kelantanese at Paralympiad.

Here.

Kelantan is another upcoming State in chess. Lets us find more positive examples to emulate in order for us to achieve success again as a chess Nation.

Although I don't know much about the Paralympiads, I think this event shows more than any other, the power of the human spirit against all adversities. We should learn from them too.

On Penang Open

Ref: Here.

I seriously think that Penang is doing something right and I would not be surprised at all if they become the strongest chess State in Malaysia if they are not already.

What do I see there? They don't say very much but they do all the talking on the table. And they are not afraid of competition. These are the type of players that we need to fight for Malaysia. So we need to create the space for them. For that we need genuine selection. The current system where all our top players are not given a chance because no attempts are made to reach them in order to give free holidays to the deadwoods must go.

Compare their culture to the culture we have currently. Seniors teaching the Juniors how to write nasty emails. Seniors attacking a Junior when he has won his rightful place in the senior squad via a proper selection. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if we had praised and supported Sumant for his historic achievement as a Malaysain Junior instead of the way he was treated by both MCF and the seniors. Would he have shone further with encouragement and recognition?

We have 2 very vocal "seniors" who cannot even play U16 level chess anymore and yet they want to remain relevant by telling us who can succeed and who cannot when their own judgement is seen to be fundamentally flawed. We have trainers who can only teach to U8 but talks like he knows how to develop GM's. We have organisers who think that the way to succeed in Malaysian chess is to learn how to make personal attacks on facebook like little children or to ban players stronger than the ones they can produce etc.

We can choose what culture we want. We can decide for ourselves which culture will take us further. But for that to happen we need good leadership that supports our fighting players and not the deadbeats. We need a leadership that supports its own constitution rather than support the rule breakers, gangsters and "terrorists".

Then we will progress again.

Penang Chess Association.

Read here.

Penang Open is one of the tournaments we have always enjoyed going to. We were not able to participate this year because of STPM. I think it's also one of the best run State Association in Malaysia. There is a lot we can learn from them to improve the Malaysian chess scene.

Is there a match fixing gang operating in Malaysian chess?

Preamble.

Please note that this is a question also. Chess is a mental sport and so we want to encourage our thinkers to ask sensible questions. Questions are permissible in any man made organisation. Humans are fallible and so questions help us to improve. Remember when I asked if MCF is a terrorist organisation? Just a question. Maybe MCF had given a talking to in private to Jimmy for his terrorist attacks on the blogs etc and then gave him that place in the Olympiad as a reward for good behaviour. How am I to know? So I ask. Nothing wrong there.

Maybe MCF told Peter off for banning without grounds and then tried to reward him with National rapid and blitz etc for good behaviour. How am I to know? So I ask. Nothing wrong there. You must admit that the signals are quite mixed. So I seeked clarification.

Questions are the way to get to the right answers. But recently I have been reading that some organisations are ordained by God according to some, and so cannot be questioned. You can only question if it comes from man but not from God. Lets try this argument then. So is MCF also ordained by God and so cannot be questioned? Is Jimmy Liew or Peter ordained by God too? I know Jimmy and Peter thinks they are God and so they say they can tell who is going to succeed in Malaysian chess and who will not. And so they are permitted to bypass every single chess player in Malaysia who may be stronger than them or their ordained one. No need for selection. Their word is Gospel.

But what did we see instead. Both Jimmy the God of kup chai's and his ordained one did not perform. Peter did not even see his own player till he became NM. So to me at least there must be some doubt as to their claims of "Godhood". So I asked God to open my eyes and show me the truth. Are they the Gods of Malaysian chess?

Once they said the Earth was flat and it was heresy to say the World is round. And they persecuted you if you dare to even suggest that. So we need to think, we need to ask questions and we need to ask God to open our eyes to the people who spread lies. Because after much questions and following the clues, we found hey presto, the Earth is round after all.

The Question.

This question popped in my head when this Alen and Irwan fellas started attacking me personally on facebook. I never even heard of them before. I can understand Jimmy wanting to protect the people giving him free holidays as a player but why this Neo Manhattan people? Then I was informed that they did this Fide Tournament recently and is trying to make it in chess. So what have they got against me speaking out for selection and the other issues I raised? I mean its a dangerous stand for them to take isn't it. Almost everyone in chess is against match fixing and banning without grounds etc. Only a very very small handful still think they can get away with this now. So why take such risks if they want to succeed in chess as an organiser?

Maybe, just maybe I thought. Maybe they think they will also be rewarded like Jimmy and Peter by certain people in MCF if they too make their senseless attacks. Maybe this is a sort of gang initiation rite. Maybe if they pass the test they can also carry the badge of match fixing gang proudly on their lapel and collect their reward.

Maybe.

Remember this is just a question ok. I am sure MCF has already investigated this and found it not to be true. Maybe I just have a strong imaginaton. Maybe Haslinda's acknowledgement of Jimmy and not the many issues raised by me is because she is busy with the accounts. Maybe Greg has been so busy that he hasn't had time to give Mark his National Junior winners cert for 2010. Maybe Greg has already got it signed and it's waiting for me at National Junior this year.

Maybe.

So questions are ok MCF unless you also claim to be ordained by God and therefore cannot be questioned too. What will be good is some proper explanations from you. You see if I ask my God questions in my confusion, my God will lead me to the truth. So if you think you are God, then show us the truth. The other hides in lies. So which are you? Man, God or the other? But that's another question yes?

A very big congratulations NM Tan Khai Boon.

Ref: Here.

A very very big congratulations NM Khai Boon over your win against GM Richard Bitoon. We are proud of you. May your success be an encouragement to all our Malaysian players playing in Penang Open as well as a source of inspiration to all Malaysian chess players and one non playing Malaysian chess coach.

There is always a chance if we don't quit and head for the back door.

Jimmy Liew pulls out of Penang Open.

Ref: Here.

This is a sad day for Malaysian chess but I hope we can learn from this. We cannot bring up strong players by match fixing and facilitating for the back doors. I was wondering how Jimmy would fare in Penang Open after such a long time away from tough competition. But I was hoping that he can pull a rabbit out of the hat and prove me wrong. I get no pleasure from this.

As I have said many times, I have no personal ill feelings against Jimmy. I am just against match fixing, back doors, PR campaigns in lieu of selection, banning without grounds and free holidays with no contribution. I am also against putting down and attacking our juniors.

Jimmy is merely another casualty of the very bad policies of MCF. The players will play if the system is one that forces them to play their best chess in tough competition/selection. And they will also take the short cuts when offered to them. And then this happens eventually. So we must change our bad culture to progress.

Do that and we will grow strong players again.

All my very best to all of our fighting Malaysian players at the Penang Open. If you fight, win or lose, we will be proud of you. You can only grow stronger from the experience if you learn from it. We'll get them the next time if we don't succeed today.

MCF, bring back tough selection and stop bannings without grounds to protect our national assets. You should respond to this instead of nonsensical letters from Jimmy and Peter, don't you think?

Website for National Junior 2012.

This is the link to follow the National Juniors starting on the 18th. Here.

A day full of pleasant surprises.

I started the day reading about Yee Weng fighting in Singapore. Then I read that Jimmy and Mas are playing in Penang Open. All fantastic news. You have no chance of winning if you have quit the fight. Finally some sense is returning to Malaysian chess.

And then to cap it all into a great day I read this coming from Peter. Here. Doesn't it sound a little like this? Here. He has come a long way indeed. Good for him. Keep it up Peter.

All debates on chess are best settled on the table, preferably in a gentlemanly manner. The table is the best provider of the truth. My fat number is bigger than your fat number is totally delusional.

So my best wishes to all in your individual endeavours. I hope this is the end to the back doors and circumventing and victimising our own players. I hope this is the end of banning players better than the ones you can produce.

Looking forward to the coming National Junior. Just paid up today. See you guys there.

Penang Open

Starting line up. All my best to the Malaysian players there. Here.

Note: IM Mas is also playing. Good luck Mas.

IM Jimmy Liew plays at Penang Open.

Jimmy is no.60. Here. Welcome back Jimmy. Go for it in the Open. This will give you much more credibility than playing at the Veterans and then slipping in via the back door. All my best.

Malaysian hopes and aspirations goes with IM Lim Yee Weng.

All our best Yee Weng. Way to go. Here.

What questions must this inane resistance raise?

I don't think there is any chess player in the World apart from those few that we have in Malaysia that thinks that just Fide rating justifies the claim that you are the strongest player. I don't think there is any chess player in the world that thinks that the claim of strongest junior is justified by a PR campaign apart from those few in Malaysia.

So how did these people get so twisted and so out of touch with reality?

I believe that my assertion that we cannot develop our players in Malaysia if the money keeps disappearing down a dark hole is also beyond dispute.

And so we have a player who has come out to lead the attack against my assertions, then we had organisers as well. But they do not say anything about the obvious facts that I have stated. Instead they attack me personally. So the question is why yes? Do they hope that by destroying my credibility with spurious attacks the questions will go away? Do they think they can frighten me into silence?

But then everyone in Malaysia has already seen how re-energising to Malaysian chess the selection for SEA games was. So how can they still keep the lid on this? Do they really think they can frighten all the chess players in Malaysia until they cannot see the obvious?

There is no way in the world, no matter how you twist the selection criteria that you can justify Jimmy going to the Olympiad. He by passed Nicholas Chan. You also cannot justify dropping Eng Chiam. So no matter how they twist or turn, they cannot get out of this. And we saw the results of Jimmy's play at the Olympiad. That should have been the final nail in the coffin.

But still they resist and come up with more rubbish. So the big why again. Lets postulate here a little. Why so much fear against what is so reasonable an assertion?

We know that recently one officer in MCF has also came out in support of Jimmy without any grounds. So I believe this shows an MCF link. The struggle in MCF now is over the accounts. So how does this affect Jimmy and now recently, a small time organiser who just did a small time Fide tournament?

From the strength of their fears does this indicate that maybe Jimmy should also be investigated for some sort of complicity with the private income generating accusations levied against MCF? Does this indicate that there is some complicity between organisers like Neo Manhattan and the private income generating accusations levied against MCF?

Note: These 2 guys from Neo Manhattan have come up recently to attack me personally on facebook. What have they got against the idea that we need money for development? What have they got against the idea of selection till they are foaming in the mouth with their rabid attacks?

What do you think?

Because without some form of complicity why would they continually make up such blatant lies and stupid remarks despite what all the evidence overwhelmingly shows. Are they scared of being exposed too? Why do these handful of bad apples continually try to make us think that they are the entire chess community? What are they trying to hide from us? What have they got to lose that they dedicate so much time to my blog?

Another reason why Malaysia does not have a GM.

Ref: Here.

You keep hearing this comment from Jimmy, Peter, Irwan and Alen. All small timers who shares the common trait of being unable to learn and who says that you cannot have an opinion in chess unless you are a chess player. This is a trap that have retarded theirs and our growth. Lets see why?

I first heard this after I had already developed Mark as the U12 Champion of Perak. They said I must start to play the game myself at a higher level before I can guide Mark further. This didn't make sense to me on many levels. This is what I thought. My focus is in developing Mark. Now why would I want to spend time learning chess myself when there are already better technical trainers? First of all it's a waste of time. Why don't I use the other skills and knowledge that I already have and then just find a good technical trainer? Much faster route yes?

This means that I have to rely on my skill at differentiating the bull shitters from the genuine articles. So after checking out the available trainers in Malaysia, I decided to use online resources. A major difference I found with the foreign trainers was that they encouraged different ways to solving problems. And as Mark developed I changed trainers to develop different aspects of his game. With that method, he became No.2 in the National Juniors and No. 2 in the U18 national age group. All around 2 years after we started playing outside of Perak.

Now why do I say that this attitude that only chess players can have opinions on chess is probably the main reason why we don't have a GM?

Consider this conversation I had with a friend when I first got into Contracting. The discussion was on whether we were contractors or in the business of contracting? What is the difference? A contractor is basically a technician. eg. plumber, painter, electrician etc. They know the technical aspects of one trade. And they usually claim to be the experts in it. And so as people in the business of contracting we learnt to ask many plumbers the same question till we got to the truth of the matter. And so on. What we are looking at from the business aspect is to build a structure. And that involves many different skills including finance etc.

Note: What we don't do is to try and learn everything ourselves like these stupid people have suggested. If we did that we would never ever have got anything done. But what can I say, there are stupid technicalists who thinks they know everything.

And what is MCF involved in? Yes, that is right. They are in the "business" of developing strong players. And for that they also need many skills.

Look at what has happened to Jimmy and Peter today? Because of their inability to accept or learn new skills, they are today somewhere between U12 and U16 in world standard and I may even be complimenting them here.

So it is important to understand that MCF is in the "business" of development and so new skills are necessary to raise the standards in Malaysia. The problem we now have is of the technical people hiding the flaws of the technical people that have stopped our progress.

Use this analogy. In football, what skills are needed to develop a strong team? Can we have just players? Furthermore we do not even have good examples for players here. If that is the case isn't it better that we learn from technical people outside who have succeeded overseas?

Putting Jimmy up as an example for our kids to emulate is to glorify failure. He does not even have the grace to acknowledge that FGM has raised a National Junior and coached a Junior into the senior team. All he has achieved as a trainer is via the back doors. And judging from his performance at the Olympiad he can't even play anymore. And you saw how Peter performed at World Youth as a trainer. He tries to blame his player even before he went. We really don't need people like this.

Find out from those who have succeeded and those that are still trying to improve. We learn from them and we learn how to succeed too. Where are we now compared to the days when we taught China? And who lead us to this terrible place that we are in now? And they have succeeded in keeping us backwards because they cannot learn, cannot accept real results from others in a different discipline who have raised strong players. Which strong players do you know of that have been coached by non playing Coaches?

Jimmy, Peter and a few others seem stuck in a time warp where they can only hear "technical" voices. It is just too narrow and so they have lost touch with the realities of International competition. It has even reached the stage where he thinks playing at the Veterans is sufficient practice to compete in SEA games. It has reached the stage that he can only aim for the back door and seem totally impervious to how he did at the Olympiad. This is the result of the limited "purely" technical dreamers who have lost touch with competitive reality.

All Jimmy and Peter continues to say like a mantra is that they have 30 years over my "2" years in chess. Isn't it very stupid to highlight that? Surely the follow on question must now be why can't you produce strong players that goes in via the front door then? And for Peter, why don't you back the player first and then take him to new heights? You said Roshan will come in around 50 he came in 70 plus. It's a reflection on you Peter not Roshan. Why can't you see that? You took our National Champion who you didn't even recognise and then you let him down very very badly. Deal with it.

Another very obvious reality that these mantra specialists have missed is of course I do work in consultation with good technicalists when I need to. Just not those 2 who cannot grasp anything beyond their nose. But they want to control our chess.

So bring in new expertise into MCF and get rid of the deadwood. And the GM will come. Do think on this if you don't want us to be slipping further and further behind. In another few years, Jimmy will probably not be able to compete with the U8's of the world but he may still be trying to slip into the Malaysian squad yet again via the back door.

Musings- What have bullies got in common?

Right at the very beginning of FGM, we went about doing our work trying to find ways and means to develop the Juniors without disturbing anyone. But we were incessantly attacked by Jimmy and his cronies. He attacked our programs and he attacked my players. Somehow our ideas of developing the juniors deeply frightened and offended him. When we finally decided to retaliate in self defence he goes around saying that he doesn't understand why I have such a negative opinion of him.

I guess him and his kind have gotten too used to bullying small children and frightened parents. They just don't know how to handle it when people can fight back. So that is also the clue to beating him on the chess table. Bullies are really cowards. And cowardice will show in all they do.

And now on facebook we have 2 more small time cronies, Alen and Irwan from Neo Manhattan. And they think they are the chess community. I think they can only come to that conclusion because they can't count.

Instructive games for Juniors.

Look at the games here. These are instructive games for the juniors that want to improve or to take on the seniors. It's all about learning and keeping your self belief. Don't let them take your fighting spirit away from you.

Forget about reading how Carlsen has beaten Kasparov on Jimmy's blog. It's just a pipe dream. It may be interesting but you won't learn much. Their level is too high. This is the analogy. You don't try to step into the ring with Mike Tyson until you have moved up the levels.

We have seen that Peter have no answers against the U16 at the World Youth in today's world. Jimmy is also around the same level. This means that they are between U12 and U16 technically in today's level. So really they both should be studying the games above too.

But they want to look smart but talk and act stupid. Let them. Let them think they are Ferrari's when they are just kup chai's about to become bicycles. And don't follow their foolish ways unless you want to end up like them. Scared to compete and rely instead on irrelevant fat numbers and/or museum M's before their names. Lost in time but then still want to talk more rubbish.

National Junior 2012

Finally the announcement is out. Here.

This is the tournament to win if you want to claim to be the strongest Malaysian Junior for the year. That claim comes from the board, not my fat number is bigger than yours. If fat numbers mean you can play strong chess then the guy with the biggest fat number can just write in and claim the title based on his fat number alone. This is how Jimmy and his cronies have tried to con the entire Malaysian chess community so that he and his side kicks can find a way to slip into the Malaysian squad without having to play at all? And he has spent years developing how and where to get fat numbers instead of developing his chess. Wrong placement of energy kup chai.

All my best to those going. Fight hard but fight clean.

The real reasons why Malaysia cannot get her own GM.

All of us know we have amazing talent in Malaysia. And we have all seen the large amount of investments poured into our Juniors by the parents. And yet we have no results worth mentioning about after 15yo. Now why is this?

Let us look at the conditions that will help us to get that GM. There is one more ingredient that is needed isn't there? We need tough internal competition to bring the GM out of our players after all that training. And this is where we fail.

Let us look back again on the dramas played out in front of our eyes. After U15/U16, we abandon the players. MCF does not organise any more overseas tournaments for the older Juniors. Why is this? Aren't the U18/U20 the closest that we have for the next level? Do you remember all the other juniors tauted as the next GM till they got older? Then even if they come in as number 2 in the selection, they are not given a place on the Olympiad squad. The place is given to another younger junior who is much weaker as proven in the selection. Is there a reason for this? Do only promoting the younger juniors benefit the trainers who cannot train beyond U15 anyway? Maybe after that age they need a coach.

An aside: There are other strong players above that age band that are also sidelined. Actually we need conditions that will encourage all of them to stay in the fray. Iron sharpen iron. But that's another story.

And then we see the attacks on the training program for the Juniors by a GM coming from Jimmy. MCF stays silent. And then we saw the "banning" of a National Junior without grounds. MCF stays silent. Then we  saw the attacks on another Junior after he won his place on the senior squad and MCF still remains silent.

Why indeed did MCF remain silent on this? Didn't I show that the Juniors are capable of taking on the seniors with the right coaching?

But what did MCF do instead? After I have shown that the seniors can be beaten. They removed the selection. Why, why indeed?

Isn't it getting obvious that there are people who don't want the older Juniors to succeed? They don't mind supporting you till you are about 15yo. Then they have no more ideas. And then they try to kill you off. But until that age they are very happy taking your money.

So we know that the weak seniors are involved in this racket. Them and that weak trainer. It's all been played out on public display. But recently we were given a peek into the other forces at play. MCF suddenly comes into the fray. Why only now after so many rules have been broken in plain sight? Why only react when I asked the question "Is MCF a terrorist organisation?" By that very reaction aren't they showing that they have similar traits? Don't terrorist organisations work in the dark too?

Think about this. Isn't everyone dispensible to them? They even tried to fix their own Treasurer. So what makes you think that they care about your investments? What makes you think that they care about the talented kids that we have? What makes you think they care about chess at all?

What do you think those few people in MCF responsible for this mess, together with their mentally weak players and mentally weak trainer really care about? I will leave that question for you to finish the picture.

So if we want our own GM, MCF must change. How much more evidence will you need to convince you of that? I hope it won't be another 30 years and we still don't have a GM before you can see this reality.

They have simply, systematically wiped out all competition to the senior squad by fixing the selection together with the use of unconstitutional bannings or the threat of it etc. All for what reason? Have you worked it out yet?

What we need MCF to do is to force those weak players to compete or else leave the team. Not open back doors. What we need is for MCF to force that weak minded trainer to improve and not to ban the strong players produced by others. What we do NOT need is for MCF to be used to silence genuine concerns coming from the chess community.

Change that and the GM will come. Trust me on that.

Insights into Chess by some real players.

Ref: Here.

Follow these examples. Bookmark this blog. It will take you much further than reading Jimmy's blog. That is the place for losers who have no idea what this game is really all about.

Creativity is found within the rules.

One would imagine that in chess where there are so many children, they would realise that part of the lessons of chess is that creativity is found within the rules. Would we feel proud of the achievements of Kasparov for instance, if he had been found cheating his way to the top? It's about his ability to find solutions without breaking the rules fighting tough adversaries that is his hallmark isn't it?

So why do we celebrate the back room boys here in Malaysia? By-passing selection because they have lost their nerve and yet they talk so much. Trying to ban a National player instead of improving his skills as a trainer and yet he talks so much. This is not chess. This is cheating. This is the road to creating criminals.

And then they try their belligerence and threats so that no one will dare to question them. That is what gangsters do.

They also have the support of certain people in MCF. These people will overlook all of the transgressions against even their own rules but they will try to have a hearing when someone points out that cheating is wrong.

They put up the cheaters as the hero's for our kids to emulate. Become just like Jimmy, Hamid will say etc etc.

So who has destroyed Malaysian chess? Who has destroyed our players?

If we want strong players in Malaysia, players with mental strength then we teach them that creativity is found within the rules. Cheaters are cheaters because they have no more ideas to improve. And when they graduate they become criminals.

They are teaching the wrongs things. They are supporting the rule breakers, they are supporting mentally weak players and trainers. That is what MCF breeds. So what do we want to teach our kids? Isn't it very obvious that MCF needs to be changed?

Creativity can only be found within the rules. Chess shows us this with every game that you play. Chess shows you this everyday. Every time you celebrate a Champion you celebrate a guy or gal who has beaten the odds within the rules. Isn't that what the game of chess is all about? Think about it.

Those guys don't know chess. They only know how to cheat and break the rules. And they are teaching all this to our children. Do they deserve our respect?

So MCF, follow your own rules to earn our respect. Punish the rule breakers according to your constitution. Don't allow your officers to try to intimidate people who point out to you that your own rules have been broken.

Learn the rules first, then follow them.

It's all a question of where we place our energy. 

Lets look at a few examples. What actually took place at the meeting of MCF on Dec 2nd? I'm told nothing much. No accounts or minutes presented and Haslinda got a ticking off for writing to Jimmy without the authority of the main committee. It's simple, all authority comes from the main committee. It's in the Constitution.

So where has all the energy gone to? Preparing a set of accounts that will try to explain away all the discrepancies. And since that probably won't work, now energy has to be spent on trying to stop those that may question it. And to do that even the minutes of previous meetings cannot be released just in case they need to go back to rewrite the story. So where is the energy for development? Why not just learn the rules and then follow them? Isn't that better?

Lets look at selection. It's in the Constitution. So why not let kup chai fight for his place? Why allow Malaysia to be embarrassed by him and his protege's bad performance at the Olympiad when we have much better players? Surely they must know that they can't bullshit all the chess players in Malaysia who is watching the games. Why would MCF cause so much reaction against that false selection when it could have been open and transparent? Why did MCF break their own rules? Now this issue will be brought to the AGM. Diverted energy again. So when and where will time and energy be found to look at development?

Committee members. The States are not happy with no representation in MCF. And MCF is full of deadwood now. Committee members who have contributed nothing and have said nothing at the meetings even when they do attend. Committee members who don't even know that they have all the authority with them and don't even know the Constitution. Learn the rules and then follow them. Deal with it and then we have all the resources and energy to develop. Get rid of the deadwood. If they are business people ask them to leave to do business. An NGO is not for them. MCF is not there for them to make money. MCF is supposed to develop chess and not their pockets. Give the States their place on the main committee.

Take the simple matter of banning without grounds. The correct way is for MCF to write to the organiser for an explanation as to why a National player is banned. It's quite simple; that organiser/trainer needs to be encouraged to raise his standards till he can produce his own strong players instead of trying to recruit them after they have succeeded and then claiming their success, instead of trying to ban strong players developed by others. It's in the Constitution. Your personal opinions are your own. So learn the rules and then follow them.

Those 2 acts of back door selection and unconstitutional bannings have taken away all the energy from our chess players; from chess into learning how to kiss the butts of Jimmy and to a lesser extent Peter. Why bother to improve your chess when at the end of the day it is butt kissing that will carry you into the senior squad? Energy placed on the wrong skills yes?

Breaking the rules takes up too much energy. Then you are forever trying to cover your ass. Do it correctly and we have all we need to succeed. We have the talent and we have the resources. But we need to spend energy developing it instead of protecting kup chai's, lousy trainers and trying creative accounting that all already know won't fly.

So lets hope that the new committee of MCF elected at the AGM will have learnt the rules and will apply them.

Or all our energy will be spent running on the same spot or even running backwards, while the world of chess moves on. Further and further ahead.

The first step to charging FGM.

The first step to charging FGM is that Jimmy and Peter must furnish the proof of their accusations. Otherwise it could be deemed as slander. So I hope they have done that to the satisfaction of the committee of MCF for there to be a hearing. Otherwise MCF could also be charged for complicity.

If that is not the case then a public apology by all involved would be the appropriate thing to do.

A question for the auditors.

I was informed that tomorrow's meeting will also see the presentation of accounts as well as discuss the issues brought up by Jimmy, Peter and FGM. This is a good thing.

This will show that MCF is impartial and not abusing its authority. This will also answer my question whether if MCF is a terrorist organisation in no uncertain terms.

I am still waiting for an acknowledgement from Haslinda but that is ok. I think she may be busy doing the accounts. Enough committee member have received my letter to ensure that all the accusations will be heard and a proper deliberation conducted. We are of course all holding our breath because this is an historic event.

For the accounts portion of the deliberation allow me to contribute a point as a caring and sharing member of the chess community. After all we all want transparent accounts right?

I am confident that Haslinda will present accounts that will also name the projects, the structure in the form of who the sponsors were, who had authority to negotiate on behalf of MCF, who was paid what etc. You also need to account for the trips and courses together with the proper resolutions showing authority from the main committee for usage of funds etc as well as the inflows and outflows backed by bank statements.

(I am sure that rumours of even money from Fide etc have been diverted to private accounts must be false as Haslinda has so confidently stepped up to be treasurer. That is a confident statement showing she knows where all the money has gone so it's all in good hands).

So back to the question.

Sometime after Greg became Secretary of MCF he claimed that the accounts of the previous administration was in a total mess and zeroed the accounts. I understand that to mean that MCF starts again from zero as far as the bank balance goes.

Question: What has happened to all the assets of MCF in terms of the clocks etc? That is a source of revenue for MCF. Has it gone to private personalities or elsewhere?

I hope the auditors can look into this.

Thank you.

Open Letter to MCF from FGM

Dear Committee Members of MCF

Ref: Here.

I am glad that there is finally a discussion in MCF about the issues raised on FGM blog on the 2nd ie tomorrow. So allow me to clarify the situation before I directly address the frivolous charges levied by Jimmy Liew and Peter Long.

First of all it is apparent that not all the issues raised on my blog originate from FGM itself. Many accusations have been levied by the sponsors of MCF and from within the Committee of MCF itself. Other accusations come from the Malaysian chess players, parents and independent organisers. Yet others have come from the State Associations.

So I hope all will be given a fair hearing. My blog is merely used as a source of dissemination of information to the rest of the chess community (only if I find the source credible), which is very interested in the unfolding of events as you can see from a cursory view of the number of visitors to my blog. All of these people actually represent the entire spectrum of the chess community.

What is FGM's legitimate interest in this matter?

First of all FGM is a registered company doing legitimate business within the chess industry. From inception we have organised the first training for our Juniors before International Tournament by a GM. Subsequently we organised a series of Thematic Tournaments. All these activities were attacked and sabotaged from sources that originate from within MCF itself and on Jimmy's blog. I hope this matter will finally be looked into.

FGM has raised a National Junior coming from Perak who was the first to do so in over 10 years. We have also coached a National Junior who won his place in the senior squad during SEA games. This is also the first time a Junior has entered the senior squad via the front door. All my players have been attacked by Jimmy and with the support of MCF officials as well. I hope those responsible will be brought to account.

As a responsible organiser and chess coach we find that it is impossible to carry on with our business with sabotage eminating from MCF itself. I think the difficulties from an organisers viewpoint is fairly obvious. So allow me to explain it from a coaches viewpoint. When I coach my players I coach them to confront their fears and to do the necessary work to win in competition against ALL opponents in a fair fight and obeying the rules. I do not and cannot in all conscience tell them they can succeed only to the point of being Juniors and then if they want to get into the senior squad they have to learn how to kiss Jimmy's butt. That I do not do.

So selection is important to FGM. As in a fair and transparent selection as stipulated in MCF's Constitution. FGM also reserves the right to contest unfair and unconstitutional bannings as is the practice of Peter Long. I have brought this matter up many times before but it had been ignored leaving me no choice but to air it on my blog.

I think it is obvious that I would be very hard pressed to get students if the entire chess community can see that all the players that come to FGM is attacked.

So I hope that in your deliberations the guilty parties are brought into account.

I have answered Jimmy here and Peter here. I hope that the both of them as well as the people colluding with them in MCF is also brought into account. You merely have to read the Constitution to see that they have acted outside of it.

Both Jimmy and Peter are not representative of the chess community. They represent that small and sick portion of Malaysian chess that needs to be excised from the body to prevent the further infection that has lead to the virtual demise of Malaysian chess in the International arena. We were strong once but no more thanks to them and their ilk.

So those are the FGM issues. Selection and unfair bannings. Please do the right thing. 

As for the accounts, the use of personal bank accounts to siphon money out of MCF, the dissatisfactions of the State Associations etc etc, you have to address them directly with the aggrieved parties yourself. I have merely lent them space here to air their grouses with some filler comments from me.

I am sure that after you have dispensed justice to FGM's issues you will continue to address the issues brought up by the rest of the chess community including from within MCF itself.

But this is a good start. Please let me know if you would like me to attend the AGM so that I may also explain to the affiliates better. This will also give them the opportunity to grill me to see if I am speaking untruths or speaking the truth.

All my best and thank you again for finally giving me the hearing I have been requesting for so long.

I look forward to the good news.

Raymond Siew
FGM