The pot calling the kettle black again.

Here.

Peter, the most transparent practitioner of all the dirty tricks/tactics in Malaysia is Jimmy and you. At least the rest of your cohorts have the sense of embarassment to do it in the dark. Perhaps this means they still retain a semblance of knowing right from wrong. But the both of you have no such redeeming features.

For your information, I will be forwarding this to Fide in the hope that they will sue the pants off you. This is called slander and defamation of character in the real world.

Entry details for National Close 2014.

Here.

Tournament guide. Here.

And chess is about decision making.

Chess is about the quality of your thinking before the power move. It will include all the accurate past postmortems. And then you have to make a DECISION before you touch your piece. And you have to make all those DECISIONS for the win or for the draw before your time runs out.

For that to happen you need to have a clear understanding of what your STRATEGY is relative to the field. And for a realistic strategy you need to have an accurate evaluation of your current skill level.

And STRATEGY encompasses all variables that affect outcome. Including the emotional elements of decision making like fear, impatience, anxiety, exuberance etc etc.

Make the wrong decision at any level and you lose. Is that what you have learnt from the game? The technical elements are merely the engine parts. It does not drive the car. It does not make you a winner in a competition.

Read this again. Here.

Those that use fear and manipulation to control the players have effectively killed off their ability to become strong players. Because fear affects good decision making. Now do you understand how kangkung players are made? Why they crash at the next level?

Chess. Relationship between postmortem and decision.

What did you learn from your time in chess? Did you find out that an accurate postmortem is essential to your development? If your postmortem is flawed then you have no idea of what went wrong and very liable to make the same mistakes again. Agreed?

Let us use the KL Open again as an illustration. With every KL Open, the organisers make more and more enemies within the chess community. I offered to act as the go between to mitigate the issue but nobody has taken up the offer. Why is this? Ref: Here. It seems to me that our top players are willing to forgo this event so that they will be able to keep their anger because of their perception that Peter has somehow insulted them. Which is probably true.

But what I can't understand is why there were no accurate postmortem of the past KL Opens? Did those events meet the objectives and goals of KLCA? Even the sponsor and President of KLCA has asked that I quote his name to bring in more players. Ref: Here. But apparently to no avail.

So accurate postmortems are important yes? Has the event achieved the goals and objectives?

But postmortems are still only a part of the story. It is useless on it's own. I have written on this blog a few years back that postmortems are only good at finding out why a building has collapsed AFTER it has collapsed. So it really has no practical use by itself although the exercise is essential as the first step.

The other half of the story is decision making.

How to make better decisions the next time, from the accurate postmortems, BEFORE the building has collapsed.

So it appears we have 2 problems in Malaysian chess. No proper postmortems and then the inability to use those lessons, if any, to make sure we don't make same mistakes again.

Is that what you learnt from chess too? Well you should have if you have been taught right. Do you not see that this is a problem that is plaguing the whole Country? Read this again. Here.

The general application of the concept of the power move.

The power move is defined by the amount of analysis and thinking behind each chess move. This concept has very broad applications.

Allow me to use an example from my past life. Directly after my appointment as group project director of a multinational development and construction company, I was brought to a briefing with my contract manager. His job was to show me in financial terms the impact of each decision that I made at that level. For instance if I was to express an interest in a project, he showed me how much resources and man hours would be allocated by the corporation to investigate my interest. I cannot remember the exact figures but I think it showed something like RM80k plus in the first week in terms of allocation of staff and other resources every time I said that a project looks interesting.

So the purpose of that briefing was to inculcate the lesson for us at the director level not to simply express interest without first deeply thinking through the issues before each move. And it was explained in terms of dollars and cents. That is also called power move.

Now obviously the higher up the management chain you are the cost implications are different. Mistakes on the lower levels are not so impactful. But mistakes at the leadership level has very broad ramifications and financial implications.

Do look at how our leaders are making decisions lately. And I mean on a National level. You saw the implications for a single corporation. Are they not rolling out National projects and then rolling it back in because no one seems to have thought through the issues, the implications? What are the costs on a National level to do that?

Now this is what you can learn from chess. Understand the concept of the power move and apply it later in life. Think through everything that needs to be thought through before you implement anything. Before you make your move.

But surely if we are to teach this concept from chess we need leaders who also can make good decisions and not act like gangsters. They have struggled for 30 years and we are going backwards. So what kind of decisions are they making?

This is chess. We call it a mental sport. We are supposed to be building thinkers. But what are we doing instead when our Country is crying out for solutions to our never ending man made problems?

What and where are our power moves? Does it merely lie in developing more and more sophisticated ways of installing the back doors? Of making questionable incomes and finding new ways to intimidate other officials, parents and players?

Is that the way?

Read this again. Here.

What would you like to learn from chess? What would you want your child to learn from chess?

A fundamental principle.

As I have said before, under normal circumstances you are free to have your own beliefs and your own choices under the rule of law. But this changes if we agree to pursue a goal together. Then there is right and wrong.

This is a fundamental principle.

When your actions impinge upon my right to use the trainer/coach of my own choice then you have impinged upon my rights.

When your actions affect the rights of my children to compete and win fairly in a sport then you have infringed upon my rights.

When your actions encroach into my life and prevent me the right to live peacefully according to the law then I have a say.

This is something gangsters do not understand. They think they can threaten and intimidate all into not daring to think or to speak up. They operate outside the law.

Somebody once said the the power of a terrorist lies in direct proportion to the amount of fear they can cast. That is what some people in MCF are trying to do, are they not? And you empower them more by allowing this to happen without question. You must at least retain the power to speak your mind even if you have no other power or authority.

My 2 cents.

Progress lies in being able to ask the right questions.

I once watched a science documentary. And the group of scientists there had a meeting to first determine what were the right questions to ask in their investigation. Now this is important. Without the right questions you cannot arrive at the right answer.

Now this is the quandary we are facing in Malaysian chess. We are not doing well. But nobody is allowed to ask the right questions.

If you even attempt to do that they set their gangsters on you. They attack, spread misinformation, lies and slander. They try to publicly humiliate you and then they force you out etc.

What certain people in MCF are doing is merely to stop any real questions as to why we are going backwards. Today they are even ratifying the back doors. Today if you ask, how come those people can get in through the back doors, they will point to the selection criteria to say that it is all legal and ratified in Council. And there is nothing you can do about it.

So that is the single major effort by MCF today. To legislate the back doors and to knock out the people who dares to ask questions or are in the way of them making questionable income.

And we still clamour for a GM?

Then let me ask you this question. How will that be achieved? Their formula has been tried for 30 plus years and they have only produced kangkung players full of excuses. Simply put, we get what we focus on.

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Very simply, if they are as good as they say they are, then ask them ALL to show us their stuff at National Close. Why have a side list? They are beating super GM's, winning rapid events in Brunei etc etc. So there is no need to twist and turn and try to bypass competition. Now that is the right question. Yes?

What other questions do you think we should be asking?

Chess makes you smart. Now join the dots.

This is the selection criteria. Here.

Notice that they have now put in all the loopholes for the back doors. They can accept side deals. They have ensured that the vast bulk of the players come from the "active list". That means Fide rating. And they have ways and means to inflate those numbers at will. Nothing to do with chess skills. So now there is no way in based on talent and skill alone. You need to kow tow and play their game. And it can be an expensive game from what I have been told. You will need to use them at whatever price they determine. You cannot use the free market.

So that is that. It is all legal now. The selection criteria has been ratified by Council. They now have control of that. All the rest fight for the 3 places at National Close. And even that is not guaranteed for you to play at the Olympiads. You will have another play off.

So realistically, there is almost no chance to get to the highest scholarship without a deal.

But the Secretary controls the letters. You can now become a National player without ever winning a tournament. SEA games have shown us that. You can play at the Olympiads even if you never qualify. The last Olympiad has shown us that. But without that letter all these things mean nothing.

So they need the post of Secretary as well.

Do you see the picture now? How has chess made you smart? If there is one thing you have learnt from chess, it's this. You must make your decisions to change outcome before you are mated. And/or before your time run out.

So has chess made you smart? The game is still in play. What decision have you made.

The post to control all other posts.

Have you ever wondered why they want the Secretary position so badly? Let me give you a heads up here.

The Secretary is appointed by the President. And the Secretary normally follows the instruction of the President. That is just how it works and if the President knows about chess, then normally it can work fairly well. But that is not the case in MCF. In MCF the President is only there to find the sponsors. He doesn't know about chess. And so the post of Secretary becomes very powerful. Here's how.

1. If you have an issue that you want discussed, you have to write in to the Secretary since you cannot access the President directly and he won't know what you are talking about anyway. So the Secretary can ignore your request and so important issues may not find it's place on the Agenda. (This applies equally to Council members who want an issue included for discussion).

2. As you can see for yourself, the general Council is too unwieldy and many are new. So many do not know all the tricks of the game. And since the Secretary controls the Agenda and many issues will not be discussed because of this, then the Secretary effectively runs MCF on the day to day basis. And he will make decisions that is not covered by Council. This becomes worse since the Secretary also controls the information. For example the last SEA games. How would anyone know about the Myammar chess if the Secretary does not inform the Council? Then a private deal was made and we suddenly have new National level players that nobody has ever heard of, has never won in any tournament or made any selection. And they will get a letter certifying they are National players from the Secretary of MCF.

3. So this gets worse. The Secretary also issues the letters to the colleges when your child applies to University. The certs are not enough. You actually need a letter from MCF. And this will affect your scholarship chances. For instance, Li Tian can now claim to have played at the highest level with the highest scholarship without ever having qualified in any selection.

Is that enough reasons for you to think about?

Now think what would happen if someone who bans players without grounds is to control that post. But there is even more. Look here. This is how KLCA gets their team players. Do you remember how Jimmy and "friends" attacked FGM when Zhuo Ren and Sumant attended the 2010 FGM training for SEA games? Do you know about the online attacks on both of them? Do you remember how the same people attacked the training from a GM organised by FGM for our National Juniors? That is how they recruit. Is that the correct way rather then developing the players themselves?

Do you now see the similarity of that to this? Here. All orchestrated by the same people. I fought back via my blog because that is all I had at the time. Those officials have a lot more to fight back with. So will they defend chess and defend themselves?

But those are big boys you are fighting with. They have even brought in google to elevate Peter Long into the top chess blog in Malaysia. Look here. Now do the search yourself.

Or is this all just a Jedi mind trick for the weak minded? Question. Is it the job of MCF to bring up strong chess players or is it their job to break our players into playing for KLCA and for a few to unfairly enrich themselves from us because the parents and players have no voice?

The future of Malaysian chess now lies in your hands. I just write a blog now. There is no reason to carry on unless those people can be disciplined. And at best that is just a defensive tool.

But there are officials out there. Players out there. Parents out there. State Associations out there. Other bloggers out there. You have power too. Use it to change this situation. Do what you can from where you are.

Lets try an experiment.

Read this post. Here.

Now go to google and type Malaysian chess and see for yourself. Compare the results and then see how they are trying to manipulate you.

Is Peter Long going to be Secretary of MCF?

Look at the latest poll. Ref: Here.

Now read again what I said here.

Does it now not look like this post is also part of an orchestrated attempt? Here. Key officials are publicly made fun of. Doesn't this look like the same way they attacked FGM when they wanted to promote Li Tian to represent the Country via the back doors. Same play book yes? Fixed polls and everything.

That is the way of gangsters. That is the way they operate. I am now wondering if those officials will now stand up for what is right or will they go silently into the night. And with that capitulation there will also go the future of Malaysian chess. If Peter is to take over then I am fairly confident that only his players will represent Malaysia in the future.

If we are going to stop this from happening, the time is now. Not after the fact.

Is this the proper way to appoint Council members?

Ref: Here.

I won't discuss Haslinda adding my name to the supposed Secretary of MCF nomination by popular vote except to say that I was not consulted and I have no interest in that post. I am lucky to have reached the stage in my life where I can choose who I would like to work with and who I won't work with.

But there is something really off flavour with the post above. I am informed by one of the parties that he was not consulted before his name was added. In fact I will not be surprised if none of them are consulted as well. All 3 members listed on the post are members of Council holding key positions. And to me they deserve their due respect in lieu of this.

Is it the intent of the post to cause public humiliation? Is that also not what they did to me when they sacked me without grounds? If that is the case, is there a way to remove this type of gutter politics from MCF?

Haslinda, you need to explain to the people who's name you have used. You do not need to explain to Peter.

Is there a way to bring progress back to Malaysian chess?

I think so. But it will not be easy. During the last AGM, I was going around saying that we need to find a way to pay for the services of the people who cari makan from MCF. Otherwise they will just continue to loot the coffers. We need to find a way out for them or there will be no solution.

But the other camp was also full of angry people. "This fella did this to me so I am going to fix him when I get in". Others want to make police reports and put those guys in prison. But I argued, if we do that then there will be nobody left to run Malaysian chess.

My considerations were this. No doubt they did not help Malaysian chess to progress. But at least there is still some semblance of Malaysian chess today because of them.

So the answer to me is an enlightened leadership who takes the trouble to understand the issues and offer solutions. Otherwise those fellas are going to fight to the death. The answer cannot come from anger or personal vendettas. That will only fuel the problem. But it also cannot come from throwing in the towel and giving up or from offering solutions without understanding the issues.

That is one side of the coin.

The other side of the coin is that the players and parents should also not take all these abuses lying down. Understand this. Bullies are not born, they are created. They are created when they find door mats to step on to clean their feet. When you allow yourself to become a willing victim. So KL Open is now open to all players that want to play there. Why are you still asking for police reports etc etc? Go and play. Stop being the victim. The past is the past. Use the solution offered and stop hanging on to your anger. Use this process if you cannot deal with Peter. Here.

There are maybe only a couple of people without any redeeming attributes in all of Malaysian chess. That is all. And they may need to be removed if they cannot change. The rest can function if there is a strong leader to lead the way.

Peter, have you considered it could be you?

Ref: Here.

Let's get the facts right Peter. Nobody in Malaysian chess bans players without grounds except for you. So there is no need to drag in anyone else. You do the deed and you face the consequences yourself. Man up.

Although there is a struggle to find the best way forward for Malaysian chess there is absolutely nobody in Malaysian chess that is without at least some redeeming attributes. Funnily enough I even argued that with Dato Santhara about you when we met again in December just before Perak Close. But I think your latest shenanigans may have changed even that opinion of you.

To be honest, I was very surprised when Dato asked me to quote his name. Ref: Here. Why do you think he did that Peter? Have you got a clue? And you still use the royal we in your statements?

Let me try to give you a clue. Dato has told me how much money he is spending sponsoring this KL Open. Can you guess how potential sponsors will respond to what is going on in KLCA now after his public declaration? Do you think anyone will now trust you when you cannot even follow the instructions of your sponsor and President till he had to resort to this?

Wake up Peter. You have been asleep for too long. Right now, you cannot play strong chess, you have been unable to train even one strong player yourself. Think. Do you at least want to continue being an organiser in Malaysia?

Why don't you start with an apology to all the people you have abused in the past and promise to turn a new leaf. That may work better. Malaysians are generally forgiving.

Off to Penang for USM Open.

We will be going to Penang shortly for the USM Open tomorrow so we can spend some time lepaking and yum yumming before competing.

Anyway to fill you in on the happenings of the last few days. A member of the Council of MCF contacted me to ask if I know what was happening with the Haslinda post. Ref: Here and here. I told him that it was just their SOP (Standard Operating System). Maybe I didn't explain it so well then. So hopefully this will explain better.

Do you remember the time when Jimmy started knocking all our Juniors on his blog and said that Li Tian was the only player that was any good? And then Peter joined in the fray? Do you remember what I did? I predicted that something was going to happen in the Brunei Open. And sure enough Li Tian beat a super GM there. Then I sent the game for analysis to a few chess trainers/players and officials. And the verdict returned was that the game was suspect It's all in history of this blog. Go back and read.

What did I do? Ref: Here. I know their modus operandi. They haven't changed in years. The same old formula for 30 plus years. So they used the "reputation" of Jimmy and Peter to prepare the ground for Li Tian to be put into the Olympiad even after failing to qualify in selection. Can you see that now? Ref: Here.

I said that it was the prelude to Li Tian winning big in Brunei even BEFORE the event. As I am now saying that Haslinda is preparing the ground for a "surprise" new Secretary.

Simply put, it is called misdirection.

I now hear that there are other officials leaving chess. They cite stress. Yes, that is also how they work. Understand this first. Hard work does not lead to stress so long as you are moving closer to the goal. So long as there are results and milestones achieved.

So these people will never allow that. Stress happens when you put in a tremendous amount of work and get nothing achieved. Those people will frustrate any agenda to improve and for them to remain in power to cari makan by facilitating for the back doors. What they are doing is to frustrate all the new people who come in hoping to improve Malaysian chess. Then they leave because they get stressed out. Or they will finally be sacked without grounds. Again standard SOP for 30 plus years.

Or join them.

That is how they work. Go back to the history. It has been done over and over again. New people are brought in for only one purpose. To bring in more money for them to spend. Not to change things or to put in a good system.

The only new thing this time round is that there is this blog writing and trying to give out the information so that hopefully this time the outcome will be different. This time around some people who are really for improvement will get to stay.

That is my hope anyway. Talk again after Penang. I would perhaps like to write about how a real team works, from my personal experience. There is more going on the other blogs but I won't comment on those. You should be able to figure it out for yourself with the information I am giving you.

Join the dots. It is not so difficult. But you must have an accurate interpretation of our history before it makes sense.

All my best.

The alternative process for entry to KL Open.

Ref: Here.

For those of you that have access to Peter, please write in to him directly. That is the easiest way.

For those that don't then it has been agreed that I can collect the bank draft on behalf of KLCA. That way will be more problematical as you will need to see me to pass it to me. For those in Penang, I will be at the USM Open this coming Saturday. So prepare your bank draft before hand ok?

For the others please call me on 016-511 7308 to see if we can make other mutually convenient arrangements. That is the best I can do. So do use this opportunity to play at the KL Open.

The dates are 4th to 11th April. More details here.

All my best.

KL Open is now open to Malaysian players.

I have been asked by Dato Sri Edmund Santhara, The President of KLCA, to quote him saying that you can now apply to join the KL Open directly by issuing a bankers draft of RM200 to KLCA.

I am still trying to work out the process of how this bankers draft can reach KLCA. Please follow this blog for updates. I will let you know as soon as I know.

All my best to Malaysian players wanting to improve their chess the proper way.

Thank you Peter for this post.

Here.

Thank you for the highlight of Yeoh Li Tian so I can reply. Now this is the question I posed in the past. Yeoh Li Tian has never won a National Junior title or got a high placing. Yeoh Li Tian has never won a National Close title. So apart from the age group events, he has never qualified from a selection even though he tried for the National Junior title in 2010. And he tried in National Close last year. But he never qualified.

But he has represented the Country for the Olympiads. He was sent to the Zonals that was not allowed to any other Junior player etc etc. So this is my question to you Peter. Has he taken away the chances for exposure from the other Juniors by benefiting from the back doors when he couldn't win in a straight selection?

Is that the success you are celebrating?

And there are even more serious implications here. This was only recently explained to me. You see for the chess players to qualify for top sponsorship at University, there are levels of scholarship. For National players, they get a certain level of scholarship. If they win a medal and good placing at Sukipt and they represent the Country at Universaide, then their scholarship is increased to the next level. This is what Fadzil Nayan has achieved on merit last year and what Syazwan just achieved.

But the highest level of scholarship goes to those that represent the Country at the Olympiads. 

Shazwan got 3rd place 2 years ago at National Close. It was Roshan first, Eng Chiam second and Syazwan third.

So Syazwan could have gotten the highest scholarship if the selection had been fair. That year not a single player who qualified from National Close were sent to the Olympiads.

I think there is a very strong case to say that Li Tian may have stolen from Syazwan don't you think?

You insult all Malaysians Peter and only allow those you think may benefit you into the KL Open. You are a disgrace to Malaysian chess. I certainly hope that MCF and KLCA will take serious disciplinary action against you.

This to me, is a clear cut case of cheating the chess community. Plain and simple.

Important note: I have never advocated for Li Tian to be punished. But the adults must be held accountable for this abuse. Simply put, I think Li Tian can only become a strong player if he can get selected on merit. Or he will just become a repeat of our past history.

So I certainly hope that Li Tian will play at the National Close and not slip in via the "active list" and show us all the benefit of all that extra exposure he has gotten at the expense of almost every other Junior in Malaysia. That his ill gotten gains has not been in vain.

Thank you again Peter.

An interesting conversation with a chess official.

This conversation happened at a State level event with a State official who is also an MCF official holding a key post.

Scenario. This official was asking a few players to lodge a complaint so that he can take action at the State level.

What I did was to bring him to the starting list of that tournament to show him how the pairings can be manipulated by certain parents with the collusion of the State officials by playing around with/misreading the ratings etc. Now this has been the practice for many years and nobody has done anything about it. So he now has a clear example right in front of his eyes if he is serious about doing the right thing.

The considerations.

The players turned to me to ask for my opinion. And I told them NOT to lodge a complaint. So let me explain why I gave them that advice. From the players perspective, they are there to practice for the National Close. So they need to focus on that and not get involved in a drama that will probably have no solution.

Now why do I say that? I took the official aside and said that before he asks any player to lodge a complaint there were a few things that needed to be discussed. He said there was no need for a discussion. The players should just follow his instructions. Now this is a problem. Lets examine why.

He is either asking the players to be whistle blowers or to be sacrificial lambs in his power struggle. And I think it is probably the later. If he wants the players to become whistle blowers then he needs to explain to them how they can be protected after lodging the complaint.

As we know, the players can be banned without grounds as we have been seeing in the KL Open. Note: We are still awaiting resolution to this issue after the President of KLCA informed me that he will get the matter resolved.

Another matter has also mystified me for the longest of time too. The officials are the ones who are vested with the authority and responsibility. So why don't they be responsible and use that authority to solve the issues?

I took him straight to the evidence of the crime in progress. What more does he need before he can act? The crime is in progress before his eyes and he has the authority to act. But he wants an official complaint from the players. Does that not boggle the mind? Does he not trust his own eyes and mind? Does he not have the courage to take action without a convenient scapegoat just in case?

Why use the players as scapegoats? And then they find themselves banned from tournaments etc etc etc. Now do you understand why I speak up. Now do you understand why I don't encourage the players to speak up. At least not until MCF can assure the players that they will not be affected if they expose all the nonsense that has been happening for years and years and years. Every year without exception that I can see, for as long as I have been in chess.

Worth a think about yes?

To solve problems we need to have strong leadership, a good game plan and the courage to execute it.

All that translates to our Vision(goal) and the discipline to execute it. Without it, all the talent and resources at our disposal will come to nothing.

Look at this again. Here. Is that not the lesson of Kings from the game of Kings?

I think we need to decide if chess is meant to build leaders or not. I think that decision will determine whether we will have our own GM or NOT.

Where have all our short cuts taken us for the last 30 years? Open your eyes and then make a decision.

Right and wrong can only be determined if you have established the goal.

Generally it is fine to say, you are right in your own way and I am right in mine. However I believe there is an exception.

That exception comes when we have agreed on a goal. Then the question becomes, are we heading towards the goal or away from the goal? Lets look at a few examples.

Ref: Here. Our selection criteria. Overall it does seem a little better than our previous ones. I can poke holes in the details but lets look at this conceptually for today. Lets ask the question, what is the goal of the selection criteria? You see, the answer will be different if the goal is to get our very best players to the forefront. It will be different if the aim is to get our own GM eventually. AND of course it will be different if we are trying to find "legal" ways to protect the back doors.
Note: Once this is passed then of course we cannot argue anymore because the back doors are all penned in and thus legal.

So that selection criteria is probably right if the goal is to protect the back doors and probably wrong if the goal is to get the very best players we have in Malaysia today to the forefront. And if the goal is to eventually get our own GM, then again it is the wrong criteria.

Lets use a broader example now. Lets say a company has determined that it wants to achieve a growth rate of 10% this financial year. Then there are right decisions and wrong decisions. Are we going to achieve the target or not?

And even broader. What about on the level of the Country? What if we say we want to achieve developed Country status by 2020? Then do you think there is a right and wrong way to go about it?

Keep your eye on the goal. That will tell you where your decisions are taking you.

Don't guess, profile!

For me, the most powerful tool you can derive from chess that has almost universal application in real life is competitor analysis. With a little tweaking you can apply this to business etc etc.

And the basis of competitor analysis is profiling. Profiling is not an exact science but the more accurate your profile the more predictive your competitor analysis becomes. Getting this right gives you the edge.

Have you ever seen criminal minds or similar on TV?

Right now I am trying to apply all that I know on competitor analysis to see if I can predict roughly what is going within MCF with the new positions shuffling etc. I have a little information but not enough to draw any concrete conclusions.

I could be way off base of course but so far that tool has served me well.

In chess accurate profiles allow you to "see into the mind of your opponent". So yes, chess is more than merely the technical. Much much more.

New appointments at MCF?

Here.

New power games in play?

KL Open entry requirements out by this weekend.

I have been informed that the entry requirements will be out by around this coming weekend on the KLCA site. Here. Watch out for it.

There should be no necessity to write in. Just fill in the forms and pay up. So I hope there will be many more Malaysian players going. There are only 3 now. We have the talent and we have the resources.

My best wishes for the chess development of all Malaysian players. Malaysia truly boleh if we all work together.

KL Open is now open to all eligible Malaysian players.

Ref: Here.

Dato Santhara came back to me yesterday and said that KL Open will be advertised like all the other International Fide Tournaments in Malaysia. And he has left instructions for that to be done soon.

That will mean that all Malaysian players will have the opportunity to raise their game from the 3 classical fide events directly under the auspices of MCF that we have in Malaysia. And that is very good news for us all.

I have always argued that you cannot ban players for personal reasons. You cannot use a State Association to forward only your own child, your cronies or your chess academy. Our State Associations are for all within the State.

So I take what Dato Santhara meant is that the bank account number and the fee payable will be advertised and all you have to do is to pay in. There will be no need to write to Peter and go through all that unpleasantness.

Look out for that announcement. I will try to follow up and keep you guys informed.

What happens when a community of thinkers is terrorised?

Lets treat this question as a hypothetical. This situation cannot happen in Malaysian chess. After all we have MCF to protect the well being of all the chess players in Malaysia. So let's treat this question as something that may affect some distant land far far away that is without a GM.

Hmmmmm...

Anyway. First of all, do you think that chess is meant to build a community of thinkers? Is that why you joined chess? Is that why you brought your child into chess? If the answer is yes then proceed to the next paragraph. If the answer is no, then have a nice day.

The answer is yes.

Let us look at what we have in Malaysian chess so we can imagine the nightmare situation in that far away land without a GM. Here in Malaysian chess we have a vibrant chess community full of ideas. We debate and we explore cutting edge ideas. We find and offer solutions. When our chess people speak ordinary people are blown away because we know the concept of the power move. The move that is so full of deep thinking and analysis. And we have transferred that to our speech.

And we have all that because we have MCF that has nurtured and protected the well being of all our chess players. So for that we must be grateful. Why? Lets now look at this far away land without a GM. Lets now look at the question in the title of this post.

What happens when a community of thinkers is terrorised?

I am sure it must be difficult for us to imagine such a nightmare scenario. We have been so lucky to have MCF. But let us try just as a thinking exercise. I believe this "community of thinkers" would simply stop thinking, don't you think? Hard to imagine I know but if the gangsters win then who will dare to think and explore new ideas? I think what we will find is that the people there will start whispering in corners and be very furtive. When they speak we won't find any deep thinking or reasoning but fear.

Somebody said that fear makes us stupid but we wouldn't know because we are in Malaysian chess. Lucky for us we have MCF. So we must be grateful for that blessing. Just look around us if you are still not convinced. We have such brilliant thinkers all around us in Malaysian chess. We can even solve problems before they become problems. We are so lucky to be in their presence.

And our latest selection criteria is going to raise even more brilliant minds.

What a shame for that distant land. Maybe we can invite them here so they can learn from us. Maybe we can go there and teach them. What do you think?

Just a thinking exercise for the morning.

Should we lobby for KL Open to advertise their requirements for entry?

I think we should. Let me try to explain why. How many International Fide classical tournaments do we have in Malaysia under the auspices of MCF? We only have 3 at the moment. KL Open, Malaysian Open and Penang Open.

And this is the selection criteria. Here.

Does it make sense that if MCF is to put down those criteria then the players need to be given equal chance for exposure? Of the 3 tournaments only KL Open have very peculiar entry requirements. All others advertise except for KL Open. In the case of KL Open, you need to write in to Peter and he only sees the emails of his cronies.

And so you will find that many top players in Malaysia will be denied entry as Peter does not get along with many people here. Ref: Here. How many Malaysian players do you see here?

An aside: Fadli contacted me about this and I said that I will be contacting the President of KLCA to argue my case. He then asked me if I was trying to get a back door for Mark. And I said no. I will be requesting that KLCA opens it's doors to all eligible Malaysian players.

Let me explain further why I think this is important for all of us. During the last MCF AGM, we heard many State Associations attacking the previous Council of MCF for the very things they were doing themselves. MCF is made up of the State Affiliates. And the State Affiliates is made up of the clubs, which is made up of the players and parents.

So where does change start? Should it not be at the level of the State Affiliates and it's individual members? If we cannot change the parts then how will the whole change? We may all be pretty helpless at the National level. But we are not so helpless at the State and club levels. So if we see something wrong should we not speak up?

For MCF ultimately only mirrors what the States are. And so on.

So yes, we should lobby. We can lobby respectfully and explaining our reasons. Actually many States are misled since many in their committee are new to the politics of MCF and so biased criteria and hidden agendas find easy passage. That is why it is important for all of us to learn about the issues and speak up.

Everyone of us has a role and we should do what we can from where we are. Actually it is quite pointless to ask for change in MCF if the States don't change. If the individual members don't change and ask for their rights.

KLCA is a State Affiliate. How can it hide under the guise of effectively banning without grounds? How can it be used to propagate a private chess academy and to pursue private grievances? That is simply not correct.

Note: We need to show we are different from the gangsters. The gangsters use intimidation, lies and slander. We are better than that. We should learn how to reason out our case. Then change will come. Or else the gangsters will rule chess forevermore. 

Updates on MCF Council.

Here.

A short note on the selection criteria 2014.

I think there is a huge lesson for all of us here if we can learn from this. I pretty much said the same thing after the MCF AGM last year. This is a lesson from chess also so I hope we will all try to follow this post.

There is no point crying and pointing the fingers after the milk is spilled. After the nasi sudah jadi bubur. The time to lobby, to study the issues is before the event. Before the decision on Feb 7th. (I informed you of the dateline).

Once the decision has been made, it is too late. Think on this.

After the last AGM, I told the people who lost out that they at least had a winning game if not an almost won game at the AGM. But they blew it. So there was no use finger pointing after the event. The best thing they could do is to examine the reasons they lost an almost totally won game and improve for the next time if they are going to challenge again. Or transfer the lesson to their next big challenge in life. Start early, think through the issues and then fight smart and fight like mad at the deciding event (chess game).

So I am going to say the same thing now. The decision has been made. So all we can do is to study the implications and adjust our sails now.

Why do I say this is a lesson from chess? It is simply this. After you have lost on the table don't blame anyone else. If you didn't put up your hands and call the arbiter when the opponent broke the rules and you have lost when the time is up etc then you have lost according to the rules. Don't go around making excuses, making accusations after that. That is weak. Ask this question instead, what could you have done better?

The chess community is all of us. So we all have equal responsibility to get a good environment. Very obviously I cannot do it alone. What I did was to give you the information. The rest was up to you. Every one of us has a role. Look for yours and then do it.

I suggest that we all have a really good look at the criteria now and see how we can qualify under those circumstances. Nasi sudah jadi bubur. If you still don't think it is fair then wait for the next AGM. But hopefully you will know who to elect the next time. And hopefully you will play the game better next time.

So learn from this. What could you have done better? We have already lost this game. Accept the result and move on. There will be other games where we haven't lost yet.

Read this again. Here.

Selection criteria from MCF 2014.

Here.

Is there a single factor historically that lead to our decline in chess?

There are probably many factors today but if we are to trace back the roots I believe this may be the biggest contributing factor. And that factor is probably because the sponsor determines the team that represents Malaysia.

Why do I say that? The first clue for me was during the last Olympiad when suddenly MCF did an about turn on the selection criteria and sent a team that did not have a single player that qualified from selection. That was the event but this was the clue. When I enquired I found that I could not get a straight answer as to who the sponsor was. Now this is strange because usually the sponsor wants their name proudly mentioned. And this time it seems the sponsors were ashamed of revealing themselves. Like they have something to hide.

And then we had the last SEA games where Jimmy proudly tells us about how the Myammar chess deal came to being. Again the sponsorship is not clear but the rumour is that someone sponsored the whole team so that his son can get a certificate that he represented Malaysia.

I have raised all these issues before and you only need to look back to find the relevant posts.

So what is the net effect of this? Chess is a competitive mental sport. The role of chess is to teach us how to compete by raising our game by becoming better chess players. But in Malaysia that does not seem to be the case if we look at the senior team.

Instead we find very sophisticated ways for killing off the competition. From attacking the training by a GM to the banning of players etc etc etc. I have covered these grounds many times.

MCF will soon be coming up with the criteria for this year's senior squad as well as the players going to the coming Olympiad.

The question before us in the chess community today is if the sponsor has this right? The right to pick their own players despite any selection. Does a sponsor who sponsors once every 2 years in the case of the Olympiad have that right? Did the sponsor for the SEA games have that right?

What about the rights of the players who trains hard to compete to try to join the squad? What about the rights of parents who pays year in year out? Do they have no rights at all?

Look hard at this question and see if it does not explain why we have kangkung players and why we cannot compete anymore. Then look at how Peter is still practicing banning without grounds. Then decide if chess is still a worthy investment if the lessons your children will learn from the game is that if they do become good then they will be attacked mercilessly by the people protecting the back doors.

Ask yourself if that is the way you want to raise your child. To be beaten because the game is fixed. To be punished if they dare to pursue their hopes and dreams honestly. Is that the lesson you want them to learn before they face adult life?

Think back. What was the original reason why you brought your child into chess? Why did you choose to play chess? Can you still remember?

What we need is a competitive selection criteria to bring competition back into the game and to stop the banning without grounds. And we also need the sponsors to stop interfering in the selection of Malaysian players.

Could the pot be calling the kettle black?

Here.

Read the link above and then think about it in comparison to the very next post.

Here.

My opinion from personal experience is that Peter is perhaps the very worst possible example we have in Malaysian chess today of an official who abuses his position. He is the only official that practices banning without valid grounds habitually.

I think it would be a good idea if Peter reflects on this and stop his practice of supporting what looks like good practices to inveigle himself into a position to do just the opposite. I don't think that type of blatant hypocrisy works anymore.

Tournament in Kerian, Perak.

It is not easy to get a tournament at this late stage before National Close. So this one is for people in the vicinity of Perak. Here.

We have signed up for it. See you guys there. Good luck.

Are these really our strongest 20 players in Malaysia?

Here.

Or are they just players who had more opportunities to get a higher rating? Do we want to know the answer to this question? If so then we need a better criteria to determine fighting strength.

I suggested top 8 from National Close vs top 8 from this active list. Equal numbers to prevent unfair preparation against say only 3 players coming from National Close. That is fairer right? Not ideal since there may be stronger players from the National Close that may not make it. But that would be approaching a fairer criteria at least.

Note: Remember the results from GACC? Ref: Here. There was unrated player took the crown in the women's category.

If we are concerned about consistency then a double round robin at the Masters to determine the players to represent Malaysia would be an excellent way to get the best of the best.