A conversation from KL.

I was just down in KL for a few days to talk to a few old friends and also to meet new ones. One of the friends were from my kindergarten days, one from my primary school days and so we had a lot to talk about. I also met a musician who has just taken up chess because she wants to learn how to think ahead.

But I am going to talk about one conversation in particular from my last trip to KL today. This person said, "Raymond, these people have been around from the beginning of history. Those that want it all without having to pay the price. Those that will attack our young. Those that will use their position and authority to suppress and destroy. Those who will never build anything in their empty lives.

They are simply there so that we can be strong. They are there so we can find the courage to stand up for what is rightfully ours. And they will always have their supporters who want the shortcuts too. We cannot stop them from their right to existence."

Point taken.

And so you will see that I have never asked for them to be banned. They are there to tell us what does not work. So let them continue for the next 30 years to see for themselves that Jimmy, Peter and Eddy will never take them anywhere good. That is their right and that is their tournament. They have made their choice.

What I am saying is that there is also the need of a space for players in Malaysian chess who want to do it the right way. Without cheating, without match fixing. There need to be a place for chess players who want to win purely on their chess skills alone. Who want to learn from the rich lessons of chess. Those that believe in training and competing hard in healthy competition.

What about them? Is there no place for them in Malaysian chess?

That is the question that I hope MCF will be able to answer,

A conversation from Penang Open.

As usual when the parents gather we will talk about the general state of chess in Malaysia. And as usual I will try to appeal to their sense of fair play not for any one particular player but for the welfare of all players in the chess community.

So I will pretty much say there and everywhere what I say here. I will say that the current situation we are in is because we are short sighted. I will say we need to train properly. I will say that we need good selection criteria. And I will say that is the only way for Malaysia to stand tall and win honours and medals in the International arena.

The reply I got from one parent is quite revealing. What she said was that if she goes to a certain "chess academy" then her child will get to play for the Country. I am not sure if you really catch the implication of that statement since so many of us still walk around pretending that all is alright. So at the risk of sounding pedantic, I will say this. What she means is that her child will play for the Country not because her child is strong in chess but because this trainer will be able to fix things.

So really you are not going to that trainer and paying him to train your child in chess. What you are really paying for is for him to fix things for your child.

Actually we all know these things happen don't we. But many of us are just numbed to this fact.

But what I don't get is why we still hope for a medal when we don't send out our best when other Countries do?

Why do we still shout Malaysia Boleh even though deep inside we know that we still send out some players that have come in through the back doors via biased selection or no selection. And to compound the problem, we send out the back door players untrained and unprepared to win. We have talented players in Malaysia despite our weak chess culture. Try what I suggested here and you will see us soar. Here.

Boggles the mind doesn't it.