National Junior- A FGM evaluation and commentary.

Fong Yit San is Champion, Fong Yit Ho second and Mark Siew third. A complete Perak sweep of the top 3 placings.

We of course went with the slim hope of winning the Championship although I recognised that it was a long shot in the dark. The two and a half weeks of detailed preparation after the chess camp was insufficient time to narrow the gap. Plus we were hampered by a lack of current information for a planned strategy based on accurate evaluation. Here. However I am still pleased with the results on a few counts.

The first was that we correctly identified from our competitor analysis that Yit San was the man to beat to take the Championship. And Mark had that chance in R7 but was beaten as white.

The second was how our team of trainers were there for us 100%. Here. They tried to view the games but the live rounds were not broadcasting for the relevant games. Still directly after the event and seeing our games which we later sent to them, we got a lot of constructive feedback on how we can improve by our established training goal of National Close.

And from that we come to the third point of now having measured the gap that we have to close. This means that we now have sufficient information to further fine tune our training program for a fighting chance during National Close.

Allow me to give some general comments here from the many questions I was asked during National Junior. First let me say that I think Yit San is perhaps a year or two from being the strongest player in Malaysia.

An aside: That does not mean he will have the highest Fide rating as I have explained before. There are just too many ways to cook the ratings as practised by some trainers. So that means he will be the strongest chess fighter if he maintains his current fighting attitude but may not have the highest rating. He needs to continue to fight in all tournaments and not only select ones like many of our "top" players are now doing. See here for an example of how a strong chess fighter with genuine rating is built.

Having said that, this of course begs the question of where Mark will be relative to Yit San during this timeframe. Whether Mark can overtake Yit San or not will now depend on his relative speed and rate of learning and the quality of the team supporting him.

And this is where I feel we have the edge. We are of course still a new team. But we challenge each other's assumptions constantly in finding ways to improve. We work in the spirit of one for all and all for one. Ergo we back our players with all our knowledge and resources without any reservation.

So I remain confident that we will give Yit San a run for his money to the finish line of National Close for this run.

Now I am sure you are wondering why I have discounted the other players in my evaluation to becoming the strongest player in Malaysia. So I will say this. I have discounted most of them because of one, they do not have the right weaponry. Two, they do not have the right fighting spirit and the willingness to confront their weaknesses. And the third reason is that they do not have the right team of trainers backing them.

So remember what I have said today come the next National Close.

Caveat. The selection criteria must not be biased to protect the outdated, uncompetitive players and the tournament must not be controlled by trainers/arbiters from another era who have no idea of what it means to compete in today's world. Ref: Here.

If those conditions are met I strongly believe you will see the results I have predicted. Then we will see the really serious run based on objective and substantive evaluations, for our first Malaysian GM.

I will of course back my statements by attending and playing in all the strong tournaments leading to the National Close for our preparation.

Note: Iron sharpen iron. And for that reason we are glad that Yit San has taken the fighting route. He will be there to keep my players and my team on their toes.

And so I want to end this section by giving Fong Yit San, National Junior Master for the second time running a big congratulations for the merit of real achievement. May you continue your powerful run to becoming the strongest player in Malaysia. (But do look behind; we look forward to outpacing you to the finish line in healthy competition.)

Note: A successful run must be based on correct training underpinned by objective goals and evaluations. Not mere subjective exclamations and cooked Fide ratings.

See here. If your player is not getting those lessons, I can only say you are being short changed and fed with false hopes and promises. And in my mind that is the primary reason why so many of our gifted and talented players have failed in the past.

Ref: On trainers. Here.

Ref: On training. Here.