Saturday, February 2, 2013

My reply to comments on Jimmy's blog.

Ref: Here.

I think the comment raised by the parent on Jimmy's blog has a very strong point and as such I did not see the need for him to apologise. The fact is my blog is not on the Malaysian chess portal. And so there is no reason for Li Tian to visit my blog at all. The people who do visit my blog are looking for the answers as to why Malaysia is stagnating in the world of chess. So unless Peter himself brought it up to Li Tian, I don't see how Li Tian would know about it.

As for Chin Seng's statement that I have been attacking Li Tian since he was 11, I would like for him to furnish the proof. In fact, if you compare what they have done to Zhuo Ren by forcing him to write that email and the very public and personal attacks on Sumant and Mark directly, I think you will find that there is a qualitative difference between what they do and what I say. I merely show what has been evaluated as suspect games and pairings for the chess public to see and make up their own minds. Take for instance the pairings at the Zonals. Li Tian played black 6 times. This can only happen if there are forced pairings. And usually even forced pairings are done with more finesse than this. To pair a player with an opponent one point higher than you when there are opponents 1/2 point away shows a kind of desperation. Ref: Here.

As to why Li Tian lost the last game and therefore NOT do better than the other Juniors present there, I ask my readers to just look at the time stamp of my post. Yes, I highlighted this anomaly just after the start of the round. And with the whole wide world watching I think a Li Tian win there may probably cause too many waves.

So in essence, I would say that I am reporting suspicious circumstances affecting all of chess generally and in particular the fraud being perpetuated against the entire Malaysian chess community. This is very very different from the personal attacks conducted by Jimmy and friends. I merely ask for an investigation into suspicious circumstances as is within my rights to do.

I trust you can see the difference.

In my next post I will tell you why I think this is happening and what could possibly be the end result. But as a teaser, I will say this now. Their methods will necessarily have to preclude playing in an open and fair selection or the cat will be out of the bag.

Thank you for your time in reading my blog and in trying to understand clearly what is happening. All my best and I hope that in understanding this issue, it will help us chart a course to take Malaysian chess to the next level.

4 comments:

  1. Not sure why Li Tian is singled out. If you look at the other players at the Zonal, there are some with 6 and 3 as well. For example, (link here again: http://chess-results.com/tnr90536.aspx?art=4&lan=1&wi=821), Susanto has 6 whites. Mark Paragua also has 6 whites. I can go on.

    The reason why is very simple. Usually in these type of Zonal tournaments, in the last round, the top 10 tables must have no 2 players from the same country meeting. This is easily observed that no 2 Philippino players are playing each other in the top 10 boards. This is done to prevent match fixing, NOT cater for it. So, because of this arrangement (which is set even before the tournament started), there is no other opponent for Nelson Villanueva to make that kind of pairing work. You can try it on your own. In fact, there is a rule against "floating-up" of a player by 1 point, but this rule is superceded by the fellow countrymen rule that I mentioned above.

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  2. Thank you Gary for your well reasoned insights. You could be right. I am in fact trying to get more facts on the situation. But also please note that this is not directed at Li Tian but a much larger picture. Do read my next post after the weekend and then weigh out the matter again. All my best.

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  3. I just received a note from the real Gary Tan who told me that he did not write the above comment. I did wonder for a while. I felt that the real Gary I know would have been able to see that I am not attacking Li Tian. I am merely highlighting suspicious behaviour of his handlers. I have no problems explaining issues if there is a misunderstanding. I only have some problem with people who deliberately lie or pretend not to understand. Thank you Gary for keeping me informed.

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