Story: The last refuge of a failed trainer.

If a trainer is confident of his player, his knowledge, his skills then I think he would want a fair contest. Why? Because that is the only true way to test himself, if he is really good or not? The only true way to improve when or if he comes out short is by having an accurate measure so he knows where the shortcomings are. So he will not condone fixing.

But on the other hand, what would be the last refuge of a failed trainer? Lets sit down and think a little about this. Let's imagine and fantasize a little. So this is just a story, a fantasy. It is not true in Malaysian chess.

In this fantasy land of our minds, what would the failed trainer do? Hmmmmm, tough one yes? But maybe if we really stretch our minds this may be the answer for them. They will want to look at swiss manager to learn how to manipulate pairings for instance yes?

What else? Maybe develop tag teams you think? So they can pass each other points so that no matter what, one of the trainer's player will end up on top. Then the trainer can "shine".

What do you think so far? Even in fantasy stories we need to stay within the realm of possibilities. That is the formula for great fantasy, sci-fi best sellers etc.

So how about they now invade and take over the Chess Associations so that they cannot be penalised in case there are complaints? Maybe yes? Hmmmmm.... There is also the additional perk of slipping their own players in by coming out with biased criteria, tie-breaks, play offs etc etc.

Pause. If that was to happen, then what if other people catch on? What if say the Universities stop recognising their certs? Ref: Here. Big problem in this storyline. Every fantasy story needs a good ending yes?

Hold on, the conclusion is coming to me.

What about if all these new skills of the failed trainer is now used to export the expertise overseas to neighbouring Countries? Sound ok? Afterall there must also be failed trainers there. Surely they must also need arbiters to help them fix things there too? And we have "developed" the "expertise".

Now we can have positive ROI. :) Those trainers will now be contributing to our foreign exchange reserves.

And so on that happy note we can now end this fantasy story. Think this story may sell?

Note: Please read trainer and arbiter interchangeably for this story.

The writing above is pure fiction and has no resemblance to reality. This is just a pure mental exercise in imagination as chess players are wont to do.

A side note: This just came to me. Question. What else do failed trainers do? Do they not now pass on their failure disease to their players? If the players now believe they need fixing to play, then what happens to their confidence? Is the positive foreign exchange enough compensation for all the damage done? Hmmmmm, maybe I need to work on this storyline a little more.....

This is how it works.

Yesterday (22nd July) at 09:15am, in Minami-ku, Saitama-Shi JR Minami Urawa station, a 30-year-old lady slipped into the gap between the train and the platform when boarding the Keihin Tohoku line. She was stuck at her waist.

About 40 passengers, both on the platform and from the train carriage, came out to help push the train away from the platform so as to rescue the lady. The lady was later brought to the hospital and was reported to have no significant injuries.

When the incident happened, the train staff made an announcement apologizing that the train has been delayed because someone got stuck in the platform gap. Instead of grudging or complaining about the delay during the rush hour, several train passengers voluntarily got off the train to help the train staff rescue the lady. Within moments, everyone got off their seat to join in the rescue.

Guess what?
The Keihin-Tohoku line went back into service within 8 minutes.

Off to Kedah tomorrow.

For this event. Here.

My mum is from Penang and my late father was born in Alor Setar. And he used to travel up and down from Alor Setar to Penang while he was dating my mum. We all moved to KL when I was one. So I'm actually going back to my dad's State. Funny how things turn out.

Glad to be away from the big hoohah after Peter's post "Towards better selection and a committed National Team". Ref: Here.

I wonder how is it that he cannot see why having the National Close directly after Selangor Open is NOT towards better selection? The players from Selangor Open will be exhausted.

I wonder why he cannot see that the committed players PLAN their training and tournaments according to the calender given by MCF. They all live complex and busy lives.

So I must postulate that maybe he doesn't know this. Ref: Here. Maybe he is talking about himself and his cronies who don't understand commitment. Maybe he is talking about himself and his cronies who are so used to the back doors that they don't really understand about selection directly after another tough tournament without a decent break.

Maybe he has no experience bringing up a strong player or building up an Association.

Anyway glad to be away for the weekend. Maybe when I get back Peter would have grown up and will be talking some sense. You think?

Peter, I hope you don't mind a small suggestion here. If you are looking for committed players, just look outside of your few cronies. There are many strong and committed players outside of that group in Malaysia. But something tells me that you may already know that from the way you have structured your selection criteria.

If you really want to know what true selection is about, then try bringing up your own strong player without the use of back doors.

Chess: How to make smart kids dumb.

Another fictional story.

So these really smart kids start to play chess. And then they realise that there is a lot of politics involved. Certain people are meant to win and certain people lose; depending on which chess university you go to. Certain players enter into the final selection although they fail to qualify.

They find that although there are rules in the game of chess itself, there are no rules governing the game of chess or the rules keep changing. In this land even clowns can write new rules.

They find they cannot explore other forms of training. The very good ones; the ones that make it to the top find that they must learn to kowtow or they will not be selected. They learn that they must apologise to ghosts and anonymous people. Or else they find themselves banned.

Note: A serious catch 22. Kowtow without justification or reason then you cannot play strong chess again. Don't kowtow and you get banned. What a dilemna we pose our players.

And so very early in life they are taught to kowtow to the little people. And they are fed lies like if you are not GM by 15yo, you are all washed out. They are taught to respect players who do not train before representing the Country. Their role models are heros that crash spectacularly in International Tournaments. Respect is not earned in this land, you are bludgeoned till you "respect" them.

And so over time the light begins to extinguish. They need the backdoors in. They have learnt to kowtow to ghosts and petty people.

And then they are sent to fight giants without training. And when they lose, they are given a handbook of excuses perfected over 30 years. The book is titled "How to crash spectacularly and then confuse them with technical jargon."

They fail to realise that it is not what technical you know, but your fighting spirit shown by how you prepare, how you train. Everyone at your level has more or less the same technical knowldege. It's the discipline, the training, the fight that takes you to the next level.

Thinking is forbidden, asking questions?....only if you have a death wish.

So we are really fortunate that doesn't happen here. This is just a story of a fictional place far far away called "No GM land" where chess makes smart kids dumb.

Lucky for us here chess makes our kids smart. Aren't we fortunate?

The chess parent- A fictional story that bears no resemblance to reality.

A light interlude after all that heavy stuff. Enjoy.

The chess parent comes into chess because of their child's enthusiasm for the game. And because of this we devote our time to helping out, volunteering in the committees, bringing in our contacts to sponsors.

Then we are shouted at in tournaments, we are sacked by devious methods when we start to ask questions, we are given positions and then not acknowledged.

And yet we take it. We pretend it doesn't bother us. We take it when a sponsor of a mere RM1,500 for an entire contingent tries to exert his importance when each one of us have spent far more than that for that single event. We finance a big chunk of chess activities. Go and count. How many events would have happened without us?

And hey, we even provide the players for the State, for the Country. We can be attacked in the most public and offensive ways. But we cannot retaliate, we cannot say what you are doing is rubbish. Why? Because it is not good for chess. (We need other suckers to come in you know, wink wink)

All parents are open game with the word idiot written on their foreheads. Say one word against the "annointed" ones and you have committed the world's biggest sin.

But they can abuse us again and again for years and years. You know why? Because we come and we go and we don't talk about it; for we fear for our children; we dont want them victimised. Then the new sucker comes along. Times up.

These people have no respect for you and your contributions. They just see another fat check, another person they can twist and intimidate. And so the chess world continues to turn. And then those parents disappear and fresh meat come into the picture. And those get fleeced again.

This is just a story of course. We parents here are just too smart to be used like that, they quietly tell themselves.

But since this is just a story, I'll give this story a happy ending ok? Then one of the parents stayed and he learnt all their tricks. He even became a coach. And then he told all the other parents about those tricks. And the parents in this fictional story said no more to the bums and kicked them out. And everybody smiled and lived happily ever after in this GM land.

Then I woke up. :)

From a Turkey movie.

Heroine fighter comes to town just in time to befriend woman who was subsequently killed by mobster. The victim has a younger brother who has some computing skills but little else. In the final encounter heroine asks the younger brother to stay away. But he insists on going. Heroine asks why?

He said, "This is not your fight. She was my sister. I am afraid of what will happen to me if I don't fight this fight."

In final encounter, younger brother didn't do much except throw a stone which changed final outcome.

Hmmmm, maybe not so Turkey afterall.

Note: Fighting does not equate to violence. It is enough to resist intimidation and fear.

Do not fear death so much, but rather the inadequate life.

-- Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)

From a story.

Psychological damage.

A senior law enforcement agent was asked why she retired early from a promising career. She mentioned one horrendous case where she felt she let down the victim of a crime.

This is what she said. "It's like a naval convoy where one of the battleships gets holed below the waterline. No visible damage, but it falls a little behind, and then a little more, and it drifts a little off course. And then when the next big engagement comes along it's completely out of sight. That was me."

I hear we are sending a strong U16 team to Turkey. Here. Lets value them. My best wishes to those Juniors and I hope you guys will break out from that false glass ceiling sooner rather than later.

And on the right corner we have.......

I have reliable information that someone is trying to set up a structure similar to Singapore here in Malaysia. But lets just call this a story.

For those that are not familiar with the Singapore structure, let me give you some background. In Singapore the National players have to take part in a National training program under SCF. This program is under a private academy which is owned by an official in SCF.

So lets call this party the right corner. And on the left we have the challenger Peter, who has no less than a "university". And he too wants control of MCF. Both parties realise that without control of MCF a new structure cannot be set up.

And so the struggle. But lets see if this struggle makes any sense to the rest of us. Both parties do not have a good track record of successes in training at a high level. But they want control.

Isn't this premature? Don't you think where they should be focusing their energies is on how to develop high level players? For if either now wins, we won't have anyone who can develop our players to the next level.

So what makes sense? Lets first consider how training works, how coaching works. The first thing is that the trainer/coach must believe in the players they are training or they wont give their best. Second the players must trust and believe in the training and the trainer/coach that they have or they wont do their best. For these are personal choices. So if either wins, we have lost our choice again. And the Country loses.

What makes sense is for the academies to find ways to improve their training first. To have different philosophies and methods in contention over the chess board for it to prove their worth.

So this is just a struggle of egos. Both without the track record or ability to train at a high level. And instead of improving themselves they want to control and force mediocrity on us. But they also want us to believe they are heros. So they spin lies to try to cast an illusion on the Malaysian chess community. And if they can't do that they want to frighten you into not opposing their plans to keep Malaysia mediocre.

So I say, go and improve yourself first. Show us you can produce Champions in the real world. Then we talk.

A story for the Juniors.

Back in those days in Japan, the latrines was one long pit. Everyone including the Shogun and his samurai's used it to relieve themselves. There was no privacy. One day the Shogun saw the attendant to his son trying to shoo away the flies when his young son was squatting there.

The Shogun called the attendant over and said to him. "Leave the flies alone. If my son cannot learn to ignore the flies, he will never be Shogun."

The frog and the scorpion. (new note at bottom)

What is the moral of that story? The scorpion will always stay true to its nature. A few of you have asked me why I bother with people like Jimmy and his "friends"? The answer is because there are too few that can see their venom. And this makes them very dangerous.

Let me recall a couple of stories here. One is of a PICA official who is particularly venomous. He is perhaps the most responsible for all the fixing that went on in the past. One day he called his own daughter to the stage after she did badly in a tournament. The purpose was to embarrass her in public. But the funny thing was everyone around me started making excuses for him. You do not criticise in Perak. The culture is set by too many years of abuse of power. I pointed out to them that this was not an isolated incident. He has done this type of thing so many many times. And yet they did not want to see.

The other was that girl who set her heart in being State Champion. She was forced to accept a draw even though she had won her game. I took up the case but her parents asked me to drop it. They were afraid of being victimised again. But what about the girl? What has happened to her hopes and dreams? How will this affect her later in life?

Many of you think that this happens only in the backwaters and cannot happen in KL. I don't agree. Look again at the Lim Zhuo Ren case. This is real. Everyone wants to train a Champion. Many do it for their ego. But can a Champion be made from intimidation? Why don't the trainers raise a Champion by increasing their skills?

So now you know their methods and hopefully you can see their true motives. Note: In KL they just change methods. The motives remain the same.

I submit that Malaysia is not short of talent. The vast majority is destroyed by people like Jimmy and friends. Talented children are normally precocious. They are full of life. Watch what happens to them over the years. Look out for their methods and see their motives.

Many parents of our current Juniors who are doing well just keep them away from people like that. They circle the wagon. But that is also not enough. They need resources which are normally beyond their individual ability. So we are currently in a no win situation.

This is my conclusion after many years of observation. Any attempt to improve will be sabotaged by these people. Even a training program for the Juniors for Asean. These people are pathological liars and they don't care who they hurt.

So I see no alternative. They wont leave you alone as some wish, if you lie low. They will only leave you alone if you lie so low that you cannot achieve your goals ie when they have broken you.

So we are all being held ransom. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. They abuse you and then say they are doing it for your own good. Look at what Peter said to Jimmy. Can you think of a less deserving organiser? Many of you know him. Here.

What we need are good rulings from MCF, good organisers, good trainers, coaches, players and sponsors. They will not allow this. So I say let us make a stand so the good ones will stay. Tell them what we expect to be the bounds of acceptable behaviour. Enough is enough.

If we dont make a stand we will be here for another 30 years. MCF needs to make a ruling. The lies from Jimmy's blogs are so transparent. Do this and we can progress. The evidence is now irrefutable. Do this for our kids and our future GM. The sabotage has gone on long enough.

Kill off their fighting spirit by abuses and intimidation and no amount of technical will make them Champions. Wake up, open your eyes.

Note: I will be leaving the Jimmy topic after this. I think what I wanted to demonstrate has been done and further pursuit of this subject will not be productive. So now I will focus on our project first gm which I have mentioned previously and I will be submitting my formal complaint on Jimmy first. I do hope more of you will come forward and present evidence on Peter Long. When we have sufficient evidence, I will also submit that. Thank you for your time and consideration.

The power of a parents love for their child.

I didnt go to Bersih; I dont like the idea of being locked up or bashed up. But I can identify a little with Marina here. When we see our child abused and unfairly treated we need to do something. I tried reasoning and appealing to their sense of fairness till I was blue in the face. Then I saw it was not only about my child, it was about any strong player that may upset their plans. And then I saw strong players being knocked down one by one. And not in chess but by the use of dirty tricks. So it became a question of not who can build a stronger player but how I can sabotage his player so that my weak one can win. The glass ceiling story.

Finally I was attacked; no matter what I contributed. They belittle my small contribution, try to hide it and they inflate their small to almost negligible ones, if any at all.

In fact in the main I believe they destroy more than they build. So its a negative sum.

Read this about Marina. Here.

I felt much the same way when I said enough is enough.

A Chinese New Year Story of a foolish father.

Once upon a time in the Silver State, a young 12 year boy suddenly won the U12 State Chess Championship. He wasnt supposed to win but he didnt know that. From that day he made a lot of enemies in the State. This was the year 2005.

Information was kept away from him so he didnt know there were other competitions outside the State and all was done to knock him out in the State. Year after year. But he held on as a State player for 5 consecutive years and finally emerged as U18 Champion again in the State. This was the year 2009.

In 2009 a lot of things happened. He found out about the tournaments outside the State and was encouraged to play by a "new" official from the National Chess Federation. He also met a National Junior who was kind enough to go to his house and share from his resources and knowledge.

When he first went outside the State to play, his father was told by Chess Authorities in the State that it was useless to go outside. They are different, they say. Your son cannot win. But the foolish father still brought his son to play outside the Silver State. The results were bad at first. But the father remained foolish.

In 2010 this boy came in 4th at the National Age group and some said that it was fluke. Weak field etc. etc. That was in June of 2010.

In December of that year he almost became the National Junior Champion but still some people say he is a weak player. He came in 2nd. But his foolish father still believed in his son. And now this foolish father says to his son, set your eyes to Asean 2011. Do your best. There is no shame if you try your best.

What a foolish father this boy has. We better get rid of him. He is tearing chess in Malaysia down because the foolish father does not play chess and making us look bad.

ps: There has not been a National Junior from this Silver State in over 10 years. From the many peers and betters that started with this boy in the Silver State, none, NOT ONE, have lasted the race. And the father dared to ask why? Another foolishness. Video on foolishness. Here.

Friday Reflections

Here.

Silence met Silence by Charlie Chan

Once a buddhist monk came to visit Baba Muktananda in California accompanied by a few disciples
the monk enjoyed expressing himself in Quoan like speech; Baba very happily matched the monk's style
what began as a gentle duel of words on the part of the monk ended up as a meaningful teaching for all gathered there

the monk began by asking Baba "what is the shape of the Self?
Baba replied the form of the Self is formless, it is also of the form of Supreme Light
the monk leaned forward and countered "if the Self is formless as the void, how can there be such a thing as the Supreme Light?
Baba answered "the Self is beyond the Void, the Self illumines the Void; the Void cannot know anything and cannot do anything while the Self knows everything and can do everything"

"well" the monk retorted "if it is really true that the Self can do everything .....then speak without words"
....not skipping a beat Baba said "if you want me to speak without words then you must hear without ears"

Baba continued "if you want to know the truth beyond words then you must go beyond your ears..... and experience the supreme silence within."
Baba went on: "the scripture say speaking about the experience of the Self is like a mute person trying to describe the taste of sweets...it is only through silence itself .......silence can be taught and experienced."
and then Baba looked at the monk intently and said "when you become supremely silent you will know it"

now the monk with great sincerity asked "show me that Self of which you speak"
Baba leaned forward and smiled " it is really very simple ....you are a manifestation of the Self... you yourself are a manifestation of the Self .... you can know that just like that."
when Baba uttered "that" he snap his fingers and said "everything else is just a play of words"

the monk and Baba embraced each other ... in that moment...

Silence met Silence

After dinner musings of Malaysia/Singapore match.

We have transferred to the Singapore Open instead of the age group and Mark has been invited to be an official player for the Malaysia/Singapore match based on his performance at the National Juniors.

So we have about 2 and a half days to do some emergency repairs before travelling again. This is my musing now. We know Singapore has a Coach to collect database of our games. This is a good thing. Preparation is key. They at least have current data of our players from Asean, Penang Open and our National Juniors which we have placed in chessresults.com.

Now what do we have? We have a very strong sense of team spirit from the recent National Junior. Lets hope that is enough.

Or maybe MCF can come up with some ideas to help the players out. My suggestion is to dedicate someone to compilation of some database and get it to the players asap to give them a little more edge.

Sunday musings with coke.

Having a cold coke and looking forward to the National Juniors to test out new ideas. Ziaur was a real blessing in helping us fill in the blanks. I hear Jasur is also great with the kids. Hope they sort out his stay. Firey is doing a fantastic job keeping us informed of latest games around the globe and there are plenty of quality tournaments in Malaysia.

Now all we need is some quality leadership from MCF and we will go far. This looks like a start. Here.

ps: Hmmmm I dont understand the selection criteria again. Is there any and if so where is it?

The chicken or the egg?

Negotiators tend to leave out a member of their team if they are perceived to be angry or negative about outcomes. The reason is this. If there is anger in the room can you be sure that it hasnt come from you? If there is a possible positive outcome, can you see it if you are negative?

This problem is further compounded if you do not even know if you are angry or negative? Watch out for it and it will improve your chess and life in general.

A real story

After I graduated in Optics, my first job was with a fast growing Optical chain that eventually became the first Optical chain to achieve public listing in the UK. The boss then sold his shares and retired to a big house with a heated indoor swimming pool. I was told that this was also his first success in business. All his other attempts had failed. He was nearly 50yo by then.

I remember my first week there. Some of the Opticians and other staff were sacked on the first day, some after 20 minutes. He paid the highest wages in the industry and he only wanted the best.

One day I was working at a branch and there was an underground strike for 4 days. The business was down in that branch and the manager was called up and given a shelling. I thought that was unfair then but now I understand better. The point was not the strike. The point was the manager did nothing to try and improve the situation. He could have picked up the phone and call the customers. Anything to compensate for what he could not change.

This is the lesson our kids can learn from chess. The world is not "fair". But dont get bitter. It only hurts you. There are many things you can do within the rules to change things. If you continue to try, to learn, to improve, you cannot be stopped. But dont sit down and whine.

Then we will have global Malaysians.

Trivia

Read here.

MCF's Thanksgiving pledge

In a sudden turnaround a MCF official announced a pledge that they will bring back medals from every category within the next 3 Asean games out of respect for the American Thanksgiving day and Hillary Clinton's recent visit. Not only that but they will send full teams with a proper Coach and undertake a comprehensive competitors analysis. To optimise our chances of medals MCF will begin the training of the players asap breaking a long held tradition of last minute preparations in this Thanksgiving pledge.

The official explained that this turnaround came as a result of the officials coming to the sudden realisation that they should do this as a way of showing gratitude for all the benefits that they have enjoyed in their posts for so long. This is to honour the players, parents and sponsors, past and present, who have sacrificed so much for the game.

"It's about time we give something concrete back too" said the official. "If we fail to deliver we have all pledged to resign enblock".

Sounds fair to me.

This announcement was posted anonymously.