Let me share a big secret about coaching with you Peter Long.

Ref: Here.

Peter let me share a deep secret that will change your fortune as a Coach forever. I hope you can keep this between us. You see Peter I had a glimpse of your methods when we shared a room with one of your students during Asian Youth 2011. Peter, you may not know this since you haven't played competitive chess for a long long time and you are a little disconnected but during a tournament the players are really under a lot of stress. Their opponents are trying their damndest to beat them. What a coach should not do is to call up and hurl abuses at the student during this time. You are adding to the stress. And this finally breaks the student. Then they start to drop games. In fact this trauma may even have lasting effect.

Simply put. You cannot hope to terrorise your players into playing good chess. It just doesn't work.

The training should have been done a long time back. During the tournament all the coach can do is to hope that the training sticks. That the coach has done a good job and covered all the bases. And maybe add a little encouragement or a reminder here and there. That is all. Frustrating as that may be as I have found. But that also means you have to learn a little emotional self control first yes, Peter?

Ok. That was the secret. Now you know all that I know. Good luck.

One other thing Peter, let me tell you a little more about what happens to players that have been broken. They simply stop being strong. They suffer from "mysterious" losses. I think you know the players I am talking about. The ones that were used publicly as pawns to tell lies and to slander. The good friends that you are talking about. Just like you, Jimmy and Eddy yes?

Oh yeah, one other thing before I forget. When you need the crutches of the back doors you also cannot be strong. The use of the back doors is already an admission that you are weak, that you lack self respect and self confidence. Also by using the back doors, they don't understand what it means to struggle for a place on the squad. And the coach doesn't learn what he doesn't know to help his player win in a real tournament. Easy entry and then they make the mistake of thinking that playing for the Country is a holiday. Get what I mean?

You now have the secret Peter. Please do not share this with anyone. FGM does not need any real competitors k. So this is just to help you cari makan. Thank you Peter. I know you can be trusted to keep my secret a secret. Now only 2 of us in all of Malaysian chess know this. Wink wink.

ps: Now there should be no more need to write sob story emails to parents of National Juniors saying that you have changed and begging them for their child to be taught by you again, is there?

Happy 2014 Peter.