What is happening at Bangkok Open?

Ref: Here.

I only see one Malaysian playing there. And I think he is one of the the top students from our local chess university.

In the past Penang has always sent a large contingent of players. But from what I hear many Malaysians are distancing themselves from anything associated with Peter Long. I wonder if the organisers there are aware of this situation.

How can one man do so much damage? With a little help from his few cronies perhaps? Boggles my mind. I wonder what kind of person will sabotage and look down on the strongest players from his own Country?

Why the need to over defend?

Ref: Here and here.

If you have the time do read all the other recent posts from them. It is quite revealing.

Now let us recap a little before I reveal a little more. All I said was that if there are suspicions that there was cheating at the National Close then it is an idea to have that playoff at the Masters. Here. Particularly since it is in danger of being cancelled because of insufficient players. That was all.

But the response was the above. All those accusations from Jimmy, Peter and Eddy Fong are not new. The funny thing is that they don't realise that the players talk to each other. We are all connected on FB now. Facts can be checked in the blink of an eye. And many players were present in all the events mentioned. But just for the record from my side, Eddy never taught Mark or me anything about chess. In fact the match fixing got worse in Perak from the time he arrived.

Anyway back to the story. What was my point? Did I ever say that Mark was stronger than Yit San or Li Tian today? Go back to my evaluation on the National Junior. Here. In fact I said that Yit San is probably stronger than Li Tian and we are just trying to play catch up after Mark's STPM. So why the need to over defend? What is so frightening about a clean selection?

Actually I thought realistically we had chances for top 3 but not Champ and so we planned our strategy accordingly. If the National Close was held in May/June as per past practice then we would have had better chances. But March was a little too early and we had to cut short our training as well as we couldn't get in any high level conditioning tournaments before NC. But still we went and fought as best as we could. And in healthy competition.

So now let me give you a little more information and you can judge for yourself if it is related or not.

1. We made enquiries for HD to which there were no replies from the organiser. We only requested for information. We did not register. So isn't it funny that Mark's name was on the starting list? And then paired with Paulo on top of it? Mark and Paulo training. Here.

2. I was informed by the Deputy Chair of Selection at NC that they checked with Eddy Fong, who the official players for Perak should be and if he had any objections since Mark was second at Perak Close and qualifies on merit. Now Eddy is not in the State Association but he seems to be "consulted". Curious isn't it?

3. The money I paid for Mark to enter KL Open was returned to us by the Dep. President of KLCA at NC.

So all of these could just be coincidences. Or it could be circumstantial evidence of a collusion taking place. Here.

But there is a flip side as well isn't there? If they are so scared of us that all these things need to be done to try and stop us, then doesn't it also tell us that we must be heading in the right direction? Otherwise why are they so afraid of a "weak" player?

Is KL Open on a tight budget?

Ref: Here.

Dear Peter,

I am finding it a little difficult to do the sums here. Dato Santhara told me that he sponsored the event to the tune of RM150K. And I presume that is on top of the fees you are charging for entry.

During the training for the National Juniors going to Asean in 2010 where I provided a GM to do the training, Jimmy and other anonymous bloggers, with your support were accusing me of making exorbitant amounts of money. So much so that I published my accounts on this blog to show that in fact I lost money providing the training to our players. And I also put up on this blog the letter which showed that Air Asia was sponsoring the training and that the air tickets were not gratis.

I am not going to accuse you of making an exorbitant sum of money from this event out of dire poverty. Instead I think it would be fair to ask you to explain on your blog how you managed to blow RM150K plus the entrance fees and not pay your people.

I showed my accounts and correspondence with Air Asia in order to quell the lies and slander being spread by Jimmy with your support. Surely it is only fair now that I ask you to do the same. And I am not even making any accusations till we examine all the evidence.

Over to you Peter.

Btw, I paid all my people. Even if it came out of my own pocket since I was responsible for the event and they were working for me.

Just out of curiosity Peter?

Ref: Here.

Was there a selection? What is the criteria of becoming a KL player? Do you mean all of KL is reduced to just this under your watch?

Do you realise that almost every State has had a selection? Do you want to lay down bets that those that came through the tough challenge of selection will bungkus your players? And so it will be that mighty KL will be humbled because of your incompetence. Do you think I will be proved right?

See you at National Close Peter. Do show your face to cheer on your players. I am sure your presence will do much to inspire their fighting spirit. Can KL compete when they have an enemy from within taking it down?

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.

The selection criteria is only for wayang kulit.

What is the point of a selection criteria if you are punished because you train to fight for a place in healthy competition?

We experienced that in Perak. Mark represented Perak for 5 straight years and for 5 straight years they tried all sorts of hanky panky to knock him out. Even to the extent of sending only him back to change his jeans in the middle of his game when others with jeans were allowed to play on.

Both Zhou Ren and Sumant were attacked because they had the audacity to train to try and win the SEA games selection in 2011.

When Li Tian did not win the National Close in 2012, they changed the criteria and brought him in via the back door. Not only him but Zhou Ren as well. Nobody who played and ranked in National Close which was the selection criteria for Olympiads were sent.

And now you see that even at the Masters they can mysteriously miss your name, like what they did to Nicholas.

So is it safe to conclude that if you try to win at selection they will set Jimmy, Peter and Eddy on you?

The selection criteria is only for show. And don't you dare try to compete or raise noise about unfairness or they will punish you.

If you stay silent or be supportive then they will offer you a consolation prize like in Mal/Sing this year. They gave Eng Chiam a spot for keeping quiet about missing the Olympiad. They gave Sumant a spot for attacking me publicly. Simply because they know that they have washed those players out already.

(Not sure if Syazwan was offered a place at Mal/Sing this year. He was also a ranked winner at National Close 2012).

Of course the cronies are given automatic spots. So Jimmy and Li Tian played too. But notice this. Both of them did not win in a selection or in the rankings. And Jimmy even lost to Giam, a 1900 IM from Singapore.

This is the lesson. The deal makers play for the Country. Not those who try to win selection. This happens in States like Perak too. If you keep quiet and not protest even though you are entitled to play then they will throw you some crumbs.

Isn't that how the strong players are killed off and the weaklings and deal makers get in?

If you go back to Jimmy's link you will see one of the last anonymous comment that hits the nail on the head. Ref: Here. Don't you dare protest or your child will be punished.

So lets think about this clearly here. Treat this as a chess position. The question here is why should asking for healthy competition ie we train to fight for a place in selection or asking for clean criteria in selection be so threatening to Jimmy, Peter and Eddy?

Second question. What method are they using to throw you off the scent?

After all, I have never asked for them to be banned while they kept screaming for Mark to be banned. And Peter actually "banned" him. All I have said is we will compete at selection by playing chess. We will not pre-agree results. We would like a fair selection criteria that cannot be manipulated. 

So what is so so wrong about that? We want a strong Malaysian Team do we not?

(In fact I keep asking them to tell us which tournaments they will be in and we will also go there to compete with them. In fact I even told them that if they cannot afford the fee to join, to apply to me and I will consider subsidising them. And I have made that request many times).

Lets get this done for 2014. Lets bring in clean selection at least. And we will see a strong Malaysian team and the coming of our GM. But we must fight for it. They won't give it to us. They rely on misinformation, threats, lies and slander to win.

You must be stronger than that. You must be real chess players. Don't accept the crumbs. It is poisoned. It is designed to rob you of your pride and dignity. You cannot play strong chess without it. Only take your place when you have won fairly on the table. Your place should never be gotten from sabotage instead of chess.

DATCC closes down!!!

I just read on facebook that DATCC will close down from the new year. Can anyone confirm?

Aron Teh beats Mas

It's on facebook but I don't have the details. (Details added later. See link below.)

Surely now questions must be asked about how we are training our players? Surely questions must now be asked about how we are selecting our players? Surely we are not going to sleep another 30 years and continue to allow selection by PR campaigns and back doors by people with vested interests? How long more will we allow the rot to continue? How long more are we going to allow these people to sabotage our players by taking away competition and putting in banning without grounds?

Peter, please do Malaysian chess a big big favour and resign from MCF. Pray tell us again what has Fide Rating in Malaysia got to do with fighting spirit when it is not earned in Open Tournaments? Ref: Here. What is the results here telling us?

What more can I say? Care to come to the Malaysian Chess Festival and play in the Open standard category to try and save whatever shred of credibility you have left? If any? Ref: Here.

Why is it that any player start to fail the moment they become associated with you? Have you thought about that Peter?

Is this the Malaysian Masters or is it something else?

Ref: Here.

If you can think of any players who may be doing well at the Malaysian "Masters", then maybe something is wrong with the selection criteria yes? Then the question must be why aren't they there isn't it? What is your opinion? Can MCF come up with a better and fairer selection criteria for the sake of Malaysian chess? Ref: Here. Just wondering out loud.

More questions for MCF on World Youth.

Read here.

As you can see on the link above, MCF only made a call for the U16's. Now why query this?

Lets say MCF is actually trying to develop Malaysian chess. Now if this was the case wouldn't we see this? World Youth is also open to the U18. Why is there only one U18 from Malaysia present? Why was there no general call for the other U18 Juniors?

Consider this. The parents pay for everything. MCF actually charges a management fee to the parents. So why not open it up? MCF is not paying.

The official players are one thing. So ok, MCF says the NAG Champ is to be the official player. Fine if that is what the organisers are offering. One free place per category. But why pass up the U18?

I also know there are players there who are not official. That is fine too. The parents are investing for their future and maybe they will do better next year after the exposure. But again why not let the chess community know about that too. Why not say that you can still go but unofficially. After all MCF doesn't come up with a cent.

Puzzling yes? Not so if this is the plan. Knock out the players that are close to challenging the seniors. Don't give them information, don't even give them a chance to improve, ban them without grounds etc etc. The idea is that Jimmy will still be in the senior team when he is in a wheelchair and then we need to send someone to push him around the tournament hall. If that is not the case, can you see any logic to this deliberate strategy to exclude our more senior Juniors?

Note: Aren't the U18 and the U20 the Juniors that are closest to replacing the seniors? Why abandon them after all the investment and training? Could that be the only reason why Jimmy is still playing for the Country? Do you remember how he did at the last Olympiad? How do we progress if the Juniors are not given the opportunity to overtake the seniors except via the back door?

Who is supporting this sabotage of our players? Who made the decision? Are you proud of yourself? Do you go around saying that you are "sacrificing" yourself for Malaysian chess? That you are serving to lead.

Note: If you are still not convinced, do you remember what happened to Sumant when he actually trained and fought for his place in the senior squad? Was he congratulated for a job well done after he qualified? Or was he attacked mercilessly?

Work this out and you will see why no GM will come under this MCF. Put yourself in Sumant's shoe for a minute and you will understand what they did to him.

Committee members of MCF.

See the list of Officials here.

From what I know, we have a new Deputy President, a new Vice President, a new Treasurer and even new committee members. But somehow their names are not there although they were appointed some time back. So their occlusion is interesting. Does this mean that the people who are on the list today will be approving the accounts? So what is the game? This will be interesting. Berani buat berani tanggung.

Can Swiss Manager be "fixed"?

Ref: Here.

From the evidence of the Swiss Manager file that has been sent to me, it shows that you can manually over ride any pairing in any round. And I have been told this is fairly common in the last 2 rounds with the collusion of the Arbiter and/or Tournament Director. That is a very strong assertion.

And it seems that if say you forced pair 2 weak players at R1 you would probably have at least one player at R2 that really doesn't deserve that one point since usually strong players are paired against weak players on the first round. This can be manipulated to give easy point/passage to a 2nd round player.

This is one possible use of a high rated players paired as unrated. The guy from India was accused by a Malaysian player that he was actually a 2200. So he can be used to ambush someone in the first round especially if the unrated players are not entered in an alphabetical order. Of course once inserted into the system falsely he can do random damage all along the way. I am not quite sure here but maybe there is a use for him also in the later rounds. But that is already bad enough if it can take place.

The more damning assertions are that even those at the last 2 rounds can be forced paired together without anyone noticing if they are the same points or a floater from below. Say an odd player half a point below and he can be used to pair against someone at the next level.

Maybe I am not explaining this too clearly but I think that with Hamid's boast and the players complaint, the Datmo individual rapid deserves an independent audit.

Note: I did inform the player from Malaysia who is a known strong player that he should make a formal complaint but he said he felt it was the organisers responsibility. I think he has a point.

It should be fairly easy to audit this. Apart from the administrative issue of checking for false unrated players and keeping to strict alphabetical order when entering into the system, just run the program again as it was done at Datmo individual rapid using the same parameters and tie breaks. Then just run it for 11 rounds. It should show up if there was any manipulation. Thats what I think.

Hamid's boast as well as the players complaint should be enough grounds to do this for the sake of the Tournaments reputation. It would help to clear the air and exonerate our esteemed IA's and FA's.

This will be good for Chess as a whole. That is again just my opinion. As an International event attracting many foreign players to our Country, we need some due diligence at least to ensure that they are spending their money on and giving support to a clean tournament.