My contribution to this deflective conversation started by Jimmy.

Here.

I wonder if the people taking part in this discussion really know what Jimmy is up to? Study his standard modus operandi and you won't be so easily fooled in the future.

Let me give you a clue here. Why do you think there are so many theories surrounding the missing MAS 370? Spin enough stories and some people will get confused. Spin more and people will just give up trying to understand.

So allow me to add my 2cents to try to make some sense out of this.

The most transparent reason why Jimmy is crying wolf is to deflect from the bypass of Nicholas Chan by Yeoh Li Tian. Some people say that Li Tian is strong. But look at his history from 2010. He has never won a selection but he has represented Malaysia on the senior team. Look at his games. He cannot even win against even the 1900's. The fact is that he would not have qualified any other way. He doesn't have what it takes. He has many drawing weapons that he is only now trying to move away from. Right now he can only win in select tournaments after he has been specially prepared by his backers inside/outside MCF with the latest games by his opponents from NC. Those will not be the conditions he will have at Tromso.

So it is really Li Tian who has taken away many opportunities from the other strong players via the back door in order to develop himself.

Isn't that the fact but look at what you are arguing about?

This is why I think MCF has reversed the decision on the Masters. 

I suspect that they are under legal advice not to address the complain of search engine usage during National Close. Why? For if they do then the affected players will have legal claim to ask for redress. And this includes Mark. So find out more about that accusation if you really want to understand the decision.

That is why a clean selection is important. Now MCF is twisting and turning to justify what to me is the best outcome barring a clean decision on NC itself.

It's that simple. This is what Jimmy does. Don't you know this by now? How much evidence do you need before you can see that he is a fraud? Him and his accomplices.

You think he is fighting for you. But really he is putting the spot light on you so that the person he is really helping gets clean away. He knows that MCF won't reverse that decision so it is only you who will be damaged further from this. I tried to warn you in 2010 but you didn't listen.

Look and see what he has done to you. Look and see what you have become. And you still think you are so smart?

Some of my past experience that may be beneficial to MCF now.

It does look like there may be a glimmer of hope that there are still a few decent people left in MCF with the Fadzil Nayan decision. So I write this for their benefit. My point has always been that we must take action before the nasi jadi bubur. So learn from the history and learn to recognize those that pretend to be angels but are actually the devil incarnate.

So a very short synopsis here. This may be new to those who just joined the chess circuit but these are the historical facts.

In 2009, when I was elected into the Perak Chess Association, I made the bold move to bring in written selection criteria. At that time MCF itself had no written selection and Greg was the new Secretary after Hamid.

But let me give more details surrounding the Perak Chess Association AGM for the first time today before I continue this story. During that time Dr Yee was the President and he was very unpopular since all players were hand picked by him. Allow me to recount our experience. Mark was the newly minted U12 State Champion and there was a "selection" for the Perak Junior Team. We were invited by the Vice President to attend but when we arrived Mark was chased out of the tournament hall by Dr Yee and friends. So that was how it was.

I had a lot of support from the members so what Dr Yee as the President then did was to hold the AGM on the same day that the Perak Team was leaving for MSSM and so many of my supporters who were teachers could not come to the AGM as they had to accompany the students. The other thing Dr Yee did was to accost all the members with voting rights as they came in the door. I could even see him pulling people and shouting at them. And that was the condition at that time.

But when it came to the vote I only lost by one vote to be the new President. And that was also because Dr Yee did not stand but put Chan up instead to stand against me. And Chan was seen as a sort of neutral person at that time.

Now to the point. The election brought in a new team from my camp as well as members of the old team. Mixture of new and old. Encik Kamaruddin, the Secretary of Perak Chess Association now and also the current Chairman of the Selection Committee MCF came in under my ticket. He was an unknown then.

The ticket that I stood on was to bring in change and one of the changes was a fair selection criteria for all. During the AGM, I was offered the VP post which I declined. And that was taken up by Encik Kumar, also from my ticket and also an unknown then. I only wanted to remain an ordinary committee member but in charge of selection.

One other thing. When we got as many seats as we did from the AGM, my team was jubilant. But I cautioned them that it is not over. We came in on a ticket and we must fulfill our promise at the AGM. But they wanted to kiss and make up with Dr Yee. So when I pushed for the selection criteria there was a lot of resistance from Dr Yee and he brought in Eddy Fong for a spell to try to sabotage that effort. One day Kamaruddin and Kumar invited me to their office where they confronted me. They asked me why I was in the Committee and I answered that it was to ensure fair play in selection and for the good of chess. And they both told me that they were there for business reasons.

Shortly after I was sacked without grounds.

What I am trying to say here is that the introduction of proper selection will not be easy. The culture of the back doors are very very well established and these people will do anything to preserve that power to do so.

Now lets carry on with the story. I told all this to the new MCF Secretary, Greg when we met. And I explained why written selection is important to the growth of chess in Malaysia. I related where the pitfalls were and the type of resistance he will meet hoping he can learn from my mistakes. And shortly after Greg introduced the first ever written criteria for NAG. And the rest came after. For Juniors and then the Seniors. So that is the perspective from historical facts.

And this is the current resistance from the back door boys. Here.

I only ask two questions.

Here.

In the Malaysian experience, who runs the least transparent tournaments with extremely suspect requirements for entry? And why do you think he is so supportive of Ignatius?

Lessons from playing chess in Malaysia.

This Friday my son Mark will leave the house and go to University in KL. This will also mark a big change in my life. For over 10 years I have traveled with him to each and every chess tournament as his Coach. I have seen him grow from the Perak U12 State Champion to the No.2 U20 National Junior to No.8 at our National Closed this year. And I have traveled overseas with him to represent Malaysia and for his training camps. And all of this was paid through my own pocket.

But much more than that, I have stood by his side when he was attacked by people in the chess fraternity who felt that winning can only come if you belong to the right camp. That playing strong chess and winning on the table in healthy competition is to be frowned upon.

And so I had to watch him struggle when he saw less talented players win by cheating and fixing the tournaments with the aid of chess officials. I saw him stumble once when he too accepted a point in 2010 that he did not deserve.

In all those years, I showed him time and time again that when you cheat your game stalls. So many of the top players that went down that road disappeared from the chess circuit. And so we played on knowing that they will cheat and use all sorts of devices to win. This year there is strong suspicion that they have even brought in chess engines to analyse. And that is an even more drastic form of cheating.

Over the years we have seen officials come and go. Before they come in they are full of fire to change things. After they are in they join the system. And so there has been no change apart from even further deterioration.

And so my son has been witness to all those shady people who come in the guise of angels. But now he knows who they are. And he also knows he does not need to cheat and deprive anyone of what is rightfully theirs simply by raising his own game.

To be happy with his results by being clean and to allow them to cheat if they must. We got what we got without cheating and we are content with the results.

I think he has benefited more from this experience. I think all of this experience has helped mold him into a man worthy of respect. I started out defending a frightened boy of 12 being bullied by adults of suspect character.

But I think this Friday, I will be watching a man of character and substance leave the house to face a whole new world. I wish him luck.

Fadzil Nayan makes the Olympiad squad.

I read on Facebook that Fadzil has made the Team. If that is true then I would like to congratulate him. This is important for Malaysian chess. Why? Because Fadzil fought his way into the Team without outside support. Purely on merit. And this is deserving of the highest respect. His victory is a victory for chess.

There are still other issues that MCF has not tackled and I hope that it will be looked into as well.

1. Why was Nicholas Chan bypassed and Li Tian put in?

2. There was also the issue of chess engine usage during National Close. Will this be investigated to prevent future abuse of selection?

3. What about tag team playing where players pass each other points? Is there a way to stop this?

4. Will the people responsible for the abuse be held accountable? Players and Officials.

If those things are looked into as well, then Malaysian chess will soar and we will hammer the rest of Asean. For we have the talent and we have the resources.

But first we must deal with the people who do not dare to compete and rely on the back doors. For in reality they are not real chess players and we will lose nothing by losing them.

ps: If you want to read more about this from the king of fixing himself then go here for his twisting and turning.

Please look in the mirror.

Ref: Here.

There is no need to pusing pusing. The simple reality is that those Countries care about their players. They have clean and tough selection. And they have no back door boys. All have to fight. And they don't bypass their strong players, don't attack or ban them without rhyme or reason.

And they don't have delusional and psychotic trainers/organisers. It's that simple. So there is no need to keep inventing stories. Just answer what happened at National Close and the selection during the Masters. That's all.

And then get those people who were responsible for the fiasco to resign. And we will catch up with the rest of Asean and hammer them to the ground. We have the talent and the resources. Unfortunately we also have MCF, Jimmy Liew, Peter Long and Eddy Fong.

What a horrendous picture.

Ref: Here.

What a horrendous picture. Peter prowling around our most talented players in Macau trying to use their success to boost his heavily tainted reputation.

I cannot print your comments unless it comes with a name.

There are some accusations about the women's event. As I said I don't know. The women's side so far as I know, has been clean. But maybe it has changed. It is not that difficult to change it for the worse if there is "unofficial" "official" pressure.

One thing categorizes our top chess players. They are passionate about getting into the team. So if they are encouraged to fight then they will fight. If they are told that if they beat someone that will be frowned upon then they will comply. The officials know this.

Just like when they get the "unofficial" "official" nod to use chess engines, they will do it. They know they won't be caught.

So it is things like this that finally kills our chess. The players will fight when they know that MCF want fighters. And become cronies when MCF wants cronies.

That is all. It's in the culture. And our culture is that those officials went into MCF for the love of power. Not chess. And to demonstrate that power which gives them their reason for existence they need the players to kow tow. Otherwise how do they justify to themselves why they seek those seats.

So if they want to destroy Malaysian chess, there is nothing we can do unless you elect in a good team of people who genuinely want Malaysian chess to grow. There is no other way.

You can see how sick those people are, can't you? They can make black into white and lie through their teeth with no remorse. Look at Peter's post. Here. He can use the term the pot calling the kettle black. So what is his pusing? The pot that calls the kettle black saying that the pot is calling the kettle black? So let's not waste our breath anymore with these gangsters and liars.

If you can, work at the State Association level. Get a good team going. And when the time comes, kick the lot of them out. You know who these people are. That is the only hope for Malaysian chess. More than 30 years have shown us that nothing short of that will work.

But are you prepared to volunteer yourself to serve? To accept that serving in MCF is a burden which comes with responsibility and accountability. That those positions are not meant for you to gather personal power but to build Malaysian chess. That is the question.

Meritocracy and rightful entitlement.

You will find that Jimmy and friends talk about meritocracy but I don't think they really know what they are talking about. So let me again use an example I have used before.

During the last National Close, I met up with some very old friends and found a new one. This guy related to me his experience in an American multinational company. When he made his first claim for expenses the CEO's secretary returned his claim to him. He was told that he must claim all that he was entitled to and in fact he under claimed. So he was asked to read up and claim everything he can claim and not a cent more or a cent less.

You see the company philosophy is this. Everyone within the company as well as their clients were partners in their progress and growth. And so nobody is to be shortchanged. For if that happens, resentment builds and the partnership ends eventually.

So that is entitlement.

Note: You are rewarded as an entitlement for result produced. There is no need to beg for your dues.

How does that relate to our chess? Look at the way our players are treated. If you do not play ball with the match fixers and give points when they ask, you lose your entitlement. You will not be given the incentives promised. You will be banned where they can ban you. They will fix the pairing against you. Even when you win in selection they will find a way to give it to someone else.

Ergo, what they want is control of the players. The yes men. If you are not they will try to break you till you become a yes man. And if you protest they will set Jimmy, Peter and Eddy on you.

Question. What kind of players are we producing? How are they being molded? What is the message to them?

Is it not the message that there is no way forward if you train and compete to win your place based purely on your chess? If you even attempt that we will send those gangland bosses to fix you.

And if you agree with them they have broken you psychologically. You cannot claim your place as a matter of entitlement, as a result of your chess skills alone. You must also crawl under their feet first. You cannot train or they will hammer you all across cyber space and/or not take action against those that cheat when playing with you.

Will those that crawl ever become world beaters I ask you? That is the simple reason why I am not too gung ho about our senior men's squad. The whole selection is a farce and they are laughing in the players face. It is very transparent. You have seen the pusing pusing. And sadly those players who were bypassed are not fighting back and demanding their entitlement. They know it's not a partnership. It's about bowing to the towkays.

Well, I will not bow. My son will not bow. My integrity and dignity cannot be bought or sold. So you can allow all the chess engines in tournaments you want. You can do all the fixing you want.

When we come we will still play clean chess in healthy competition. To me that is already a victory.

And until MCF values players like us who only claim what we are entitled, nothing more and nothing less without participating in any back door arrangements, I am not optimistic about our chances as a chess nation. But lets give MCF another 30 years to figure this out.

I have no views from the Women's Masters other than this.

I was asked by an anonymous commentator about my views on the Women's Masters. Sorry I did not follow that event as I was travelling. However I did see on FB, Peter telling Li Ting that he would have to help her improve her English next. As usual Peter is very fond of coming in at the last moment to "teach" the front runners just before the competition or claim them as his student after they have become Champion.

As far as I know anyone who gets too close to him ends up damaged.

Li Ting was Champion before Peter and my best advice to her is that if she wants to continue being a Champion, is to go to someone who is a fighter. Who is not afraid of competition and does not rely on banning and other back door ways.

The most important thing is the preservation of your fighting spirit. The knowledge can come faster or slower depending on who you choose as a trainer and how much effort you can put into your chess. But once the fighting spirit is taken out of you, you are lost. And the best way to get lost is to accept their facilitation for the back doors.

Look towards the men for the examples. How they can bypass our strong players without strong protest from them. Why is that? How would a fighter respond to being cheated? Look carefully and you will know that is not the way. There are no shortcuts to being chess Champions. And those who take the shortcuts will crash in the International arena.

It is very very very obvious if you but stop and think. They cannot even do that so what can they do to help you?

The art of pusing pusing exposed.

Do read the comments. It is highly educational. Here.

Observe how Jimmy tries to blur his involvement from all the match fixing from the previous Olympiads and recent activities affecting the outcome of a team based on chess skills and merit by throwing all the blame on Kamaruddin, Yeap and Greg. And some mud should stick to all who know these 3 people.

A side note: Remember I once asked if there is any honour among thieves? Well this is the answer. Do you remember the times when Jimmy got in without any selection at all? Who helped him?

I do see some merit in both sets of arguments of using top 5 as per original criteria and strengthening the team. So I maintain that the best outcome is top 4 and then Yee Weng. That will be the best possible team although not strictly legally correct.

However I wonder how they can pusing until they add back Jimmy as a possible reserve. But like I said they are the experts in this. Clearly those anonymous people are from MCF or very closely linked.

Also they seem to have omitted the fact that Nicholas was not called to play as per the criteria. So Li Tian already knew that they will not call Nicholas when he went to Vietnam during National Close. The fact is Li Tian has never won any selection from the National Juniors when he tried in 2010 or any other National Close when he tried to qualify. Not even once has he qualified.

The fact is Li Tian cannot play strong chess in Open tournaments like the Juniors, National Close or indeed the Olympiads. He can only play in Closed tournaments where he is given the games of his opponents and then specially prepared.

And Yit San is not strong without his tag team and special pairing arrangements. Ref: Here.

I think one day we will see a totally fair selection where opportunities are given based on merit. Where the officials are not biased and will discipline players who tag teams and players who cheat using chess engines without fear or favour. Where there is no fixing of the pairings.

That will be the tournament to watch don't you think so? Now with all these cheating, back doors and pusing pusing we can't tell who can play or who can match fix. But real chess players will still turn up and play blind folded and one hand tied behind their backs because they know these weaklings won't last. At most all they will reach is Jimmy's standard which is no standard at all.

All they have to do is not be broken by all that psycho attacks. Is that right Jimmy?

ps: If my statement of facts can undermine their confidence then they should not be sent out to fight real chess players from a much tougher merit based environment. Merit based because then they really know they are good and not from the back door. If that is the case nobody can shake their self confidence. For they then know them to be lies. That is the poison the back door boys have ingested. They know they are not good and that they need to cheat to win. It is that simple.

Only cheaters are fearful of the light from the truth. Follow the Olympiads as well if you still need more evidence. Then hold the match fixers accountable. The problem always has been that they get away scott free each and every time. That is why they are so bold to cheat in broad daylight.

Selangor Open and some comments.

Ref: Here.

This is the main reason why I say don't take the short cuts. Don't play tag team and don't accept points you haven't earned just to get a title. This title now becomes the poison because it was not earned honestly. The person who gave you the poison has now taken a lot of your energy from you. He is smiling inside because he knows what that poison will do to you in time.

Do witness how another generation of players are being wiped out in front of our eyes. Now do you see why I say that man and his cronies is dangerous to Malaysian chess? Who is left from that generation of National players who are just passed the Junior stage? Can you name the players? Can you remember what he has done over the last few years? Do you understand his methods now?

The only way to improve is by focusing on raising our standards.

Unfortunately that man and his cronies only know how to match fix and sabotage. But only here in Malaysia where he has his supporters to help him. When he goes overseas he is just a broken down kup chai with an old M license plate.