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.

National Junior- A FGM evaluation and commentary-Conclusion.

I said that if we are to evaluate accurately what actually happened at this National Junior we will begin to understand the deep malaise afflicting Malaysian chess. Ref: Here. And to do that we must also look at the actors behind the scenes.

So why would Jimmy omit the fact that his player had also played Mark and that Mark is playing almost totally new openings at NJ? (Jimmy didn't know that I was informed about his player during NJ. This information was supposed to be protected under the OSA) This is also not taking into consideration that the last classical tournament that Mark played in, was exactly a year ago at NJ 2011.

So why didn't Jimmy evaluate his own player as well and why can't Peter give a genuine and sincere congratulations to Yit San and Li Ting without his toxic barbs?

To see this misdirection and subterfuge to hide what is really going on lets go back to the results of NJ. Here. I am not going to mention the names of their players (who are innocent) but those who know the players concerned will see this clearly. Where are their players on the rankings?

Was the whole evaluation by Jimmy done so that we cannot see that?

Now wouldn't you think that with the way they deride others and taut their own prowess that their players should be at the very top? With their extra 30 years of knowledge each and the extra one year lead time I have given them, to show us something spectacular at NJ 2012. So why are they paid to give this type of results? What is the value of their "M"?

So there is something seriously wrong. Let us turn to the results of Penang Open now. Here. If Jimmy had played there and not pulled out, where do you think he would be in the rankings? If Peter had played? Why didn't they field Li Tian at NJ? Would the weaker field there have produced a different result? If more players are content with a draw.

That is why they need distorted evaluations and toxic congratulations. They have nothing more.

Is this a harsh evaluation? Yes, it is. But why do I need to be harsh? Let me try to explain. If it is just their own opinion and just blowing their own horns, it is harmless. The table will eventually show the truth given enough time. But these people do not do that. They attack anyone who is trying to make a difference or searching for answers to improve. You saw them attacking Zhuo Ren and Sumant. You saw them trying to ban Mark. And you saw them attacking the training provided to our Juniors by GM Ziaur. Now this has crossed a boundary. But even that is not so serious. That is really still just their opinion.

What is more serious? It becomes very serious when they have collusion and support within MCF to do this. (It's like both the gangsters and the police ganging up against the players). 

What is Jimmy today? He cannot play and he cannot train strong players. His only relevance is that he is able to facilitate the back doors. What about Peter? He has some trick openings which will probably work till around U12 in the International circuit but will bomb at the U16 level. That is my opinion after studying what his players have learnt from him. And Jimmy has a good understanding of end games. So they are not totally useless but they are not what they say they are either. They are not complete and they do not have what it takes to win in today's chess and they will not try to improve. But I will not use them for the simple reason that they are toxic and will infect our players with their fears.

The fact is that the Junior players that are making it today are those trained by themselves or their parents, trained in China or trained by some good trainers in Penang. I even had a parent thank me for recommending Jax Tham for her child has improved under him. But no players by them.

Talking about parents, they best resemble a Coach. Non playing or playing at a lower level perhaps. But they have this is common. They care for and nurture their players. And so they delve deeply into how to develop strong players. A parent cares for his/her child. A coach merely extends this to care for the development of all the players under their care.

I think we can clearly see the results that are produced by coaches/parents and the results that are produced by trainers like Jimmy and Peter. So why use them if you want to succeed? What do you think is their driving motive?

We must also investigate why MCF abandon our players after U16. Why don't they support the development of the U20 Juniors after so much work and investment has been put into them. When they are just about to be able to challenge the seniors if given another year or two of development. Does this indicate collusion to sabotage our real players and replace them with kup chai's? Otherwise why support these deadbeats? Should't they know by now that Jimmy just can't play anymore? Why did they send him to the Olympiads via the back door and over much stronger players than him?

Do you think that the reason why the buletin for NC2012 did not come out this year is because they need to hide the results of the President's choice? Can Jimmy accomplish this on his own?

How can MCF justify those decisions that looks very much like deliberate sabotage? How do you justify the selection for the representation of the Country by players who do not even dare to compete anymore?

Why indeed was such a powerful MCF resource as GM Ziaur Rahman given to a "trainer" of U8's like Najib? At best he is a fairly professional arbiter. The answers to these questions must be searched for and the solution found if we are to progress.

There is nothing wrong with our players even if they don't become GM's by 15 as they keep trying to fool us. There is something very wrong with them. 

I think this must be very strong evidence that points to the fact that our Juniors are actively sabotaged and only because a few of us are asking hard questions today and demanding for answers that their attacks seem to be receding. Otherwise why the desperate need to hide? Perhaps it is only because AGM is coming. You think? They want the mandate to do the same thing for another 30 years?

So think on this if you really want to see our own GM. Most of our players cannot withstand the kind of attacks that they launch from within. Some of our players and parents still think that these guys are on the same team. And that is the danger. They are not. They do not care who they destroy to keep their perks and their free holidays. The more destruction they wreak the more benefits they receive from their supporters in MCF.

Isn't it much much more obvious now? Or do you still need more evidence? Forget the personalities. This is also not about them. They are merely examples. Support the issues. Support clean and open selection. Support the stopping of illegal bannings. Support transparent and proper governance of MCF. These few people have sabotaged enough of our players and Malaysian chess for far far too long now. It's time for a change. It's time to send out Malaysian players that can stand tall and fight for their place in an International arena. It's time we become proud of our fighters and not the back door artists.

Let this be our resolution for 2013. After all, we have all survived the mayan "end of the world". So this will be a breeze to do.

And this blog is dedicated to that end. Our first GM, without fear or favour.

National Junior- A FGM evaluation and commentary-Part 2.

Ref: Here.

You can see from the unsolicited comments in the link above from Norlito, a Fide instructor and father of a Filipino National Junior that the journey of dropping safe openings and transitioning into sharp lines and main line theories is a must if our own Juniors are to progress further. But we didn't have Norlito's insights at the time of our investigation.

So let me take you back to a conversation that Mark had with Yit San and Yit Ho just over a year ago. Mark shared that he was changing his openings to main lines as he was fed up of the staid lines he was playing and wanted richer openings. Now if you are playing actively then a good way to transition would be to do it one opening at a time. But shortly after that conversation Mark was locked down for STPM. Both good and bad in a way. Bad because he had no way of testing his new lines in a proper tournament but good because we could use the little time we had between his studies to complete the transition.

And so for that one year that we laid off, we saw that Yit San was also transitioning. And we saw that he didn't do so well till it all came together at this National Junior. So good for him. That is the way and you need to take the hits till your weapons become stress tested.

As for Mark, he had to struggle with whether to go back to his safe and tested lines or to use his new and untested lines at National Junior this year. I suggested that he does not turn back but to forge forward. And there is no better way of showing up bugs in his new openings than National Junior.

And so I now see at least 2 Juniors who are moving in what I believe to be the correct route. And I am gratified that at least one Filipino Fide instructor with a successful Junior openly agrees with my evaluation.

I asked Mark, what is the hurry? The nature of the Juniors journey is like this. In any one year some of them will be in an exam year and will have to slow down or stop. And so we will see changes in the top rankings. And this will continue till they have completed their studies and find the time to commit to chess if that is what they want. The aim is always to improve your chess. The aim is never to try for the short cuts and back doors. Why? It is simply because if you do then you will end up like those that uses the Jimmy method.

So why do I say that Jimmy has a hidden agenda for his extremely biased evaluation? That is because Jimmy also entered his own player. And his player played with Mark. So he knows or should know that Mark has changed his openings. But Jimmy does not have the honesty of declaring this in his evaluation. Instead I saw Najib making a side remark on Jimmy's blog that there is a dark horse in the tournament. So they were hoping for some sort of ambush and then presumably Jimmy can then come up and claim that his player won the day. But it did not work out for them that way.

Btw Jimmy, that opening Mark played against your player was the first time he ever played it in a Tournament. And that goes for some of the other openings he played at NJ. I am quite satisfied with that result although we have to do repairs on his other lines.

But I can understand why you don't declare your player. We have seen it before with Peter. Only make the claim after "your player" has won. If not then you deny they were ever your player. Why this way? After all you say you have 30 plus years to my 2. Why not be proud of your players? Then show us how you have developed them. This way we cannot see how many you have burned before you make a claim of success, if any. And why did you put in this player instead of Li Tian, Jimmy? Care to explain your reasoning?

And Peter, that is a very toxic congratulations to Yit San? You know very well that none of our players will do well at the Asian and World Junior level for the reason that they are transitioning late after having been mislead by you guys for all this time. Besides Yit San is new to that level of competition. The best that we can hope for is that he continues to improve after the exposure. And to increase the chance of that happening he needs to be accompanied by a team of U20 Juniors. We have seen what happens when we send our players out one at a time. Ref: here.

Why don't you sit down and reflect on how your players did at NJ, Peter, instead of saying you want to see how Yit San will do at Asian and World Junior? Wouldn't that be more productive instead of the sight seeing and rubbish talking like you did at World Youth etc?

So are you guys really for Malaysian chess? It looks like you are setting our players up for failure. Why is this? Is it so that you guys can still try to get in to play for the senior squad via the back door and get your free holidays by knocking all our Juniors out (including the ones you say you are "training")?

Let me tell you this. Your free places are going to be over soon. There are a few strong players coming up now. We saw this in Penang also. No matter what you do, they will continue improving and you guys are history. So you can stop your antics now. Many many people now know you to be the frauds you are.

Why do it this way? If you want a holiday then earn the money for it and go yourself. Why pretend to be chess players and steal the place from the real chess players? If you want to be a trainer then train your players well. Why train them for PR stunts and then get them in via the back door because you know they cannot compete? Why not be proud of your players and announce them instead of teaching them how to hide in the dark? Have you no confidence in your own abilities despite you saying you have 30 years to my 2? So tell me. How can I help you to stand tall and be proud of yourself and your players? I have already shared a lot of my methods here to give you guys a chance to catch up. What more do you want me to do to help you improve? Tell me and I will consider.

National Junior- A FGM evaluation and commentary- Part 1.

Ref: Here.

I have said above that Jimmy's evaluation is biased and it hides a hidden agenda. Lets see why I have said that.

To understand my viewpoint clearly we need to go back a little. So let us go back to the conversation I had with Zhuo Ren, Sumant and Mark during SEA games training at my home. There I tried to anchor a key concept of strategy with them. This is what I said. I told them that unless they have the weapons to beat the players lower rated than themselves, no strategy can be applied. By this I mean mental strength, discipline as well as correct openings. Lets see why.

You cannot climb up the ladder if you beat a player stronger than you and then lose to a player weaker than you. Look carefully. Is that where our Juniors are stalling?

The way forward is to have the weapons that can beat all players lower rated than you, have a weapon to draw against higher rated players and a special weapon to beat players stronger than you under the right circumstances. Then you have traction up the hill.

Mental strength and discipline aside, this means a more thorough investigation of openings. A major clue to this was when we analysed Li Tian's performance at NJ 2010. There we found that he was drawing too much and so could not reach the final play offs. So how does Li Tian win? He can win against stronger players simply because he has drawish weapons and his stronger opponents takes unreasonable risks, probably due to underestimation, to win against him.

But on the flip side, he is also hard pressed to win against lower rated players when his opponent is content with a draw. We saw this at NJ2010, we saw this in his game against Yit Ho in NC 2011 and I was told the same thing happened in his game against Roshan at NC 2012. He tried to win from a drawn position and lost. So this a problem that he will have to face when he tries to move up the ladder. This is the same problem that many of our seniors are facing. And that is why some of them have stalled and afraid of competition today. They went down the wrong road in the past by playing safe drawish openings and now with their high Fide ratings they cannot move forward without changing their openings and playing sharp lines and main line theories. And so they are now trapped by their own egos with so much wasted time.

But they still insist on taking our juniors down that failed road. And what they do to hide their wrong system is to do PR campaigns, not allow their players to play in certain tournaments that will show up their weakness and by putting down and attacking the juniors who are now changing direction and taking the proper routes.

But you know what? When the Juniors do that, correct their routes, they will take a hit in terms of Fide rating as they perfect their new weapons, they will lose some tournaments as they sharpen their new tools. But they will come out stronger in the end.

Think on this. If you want to beat Li Tian today, then the best strategy for the juniors is to fight for a draw and beat him in the tournament and not the game for the time being. He will draw one round too many against others if this strategy is applied and you can pip him in the tournament rankings if you have winning weapons against the rest.

Also consider this. What will happen to Li Tian if he tries for a GM run with his current weaponry, and what will happen to his Fide rating if he was to change his weaponry now? Isn't it better to do it the right way when you are still young and so succeed later? What are his adult advisers, the so called "M" trainers doing to him? Isn't that the reason why he was a no show at NJ 2011 and 2012? He is not the strongest Junior. His "trainers" know this after NJ2010. He has too many weaknesses. And the same weaknesses showed up again in NC2012. He is the product of a PR campaign to fulfil a hidden agenda. The strongest Juniors 2012 is Fong Yit San and Tan Li Ting. More later.

P2 coming soon.