One day in the life....Penultimate.article

Please see the rest of the series here. Intro, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

I am going to reveal here the events surrounding the Syuen Tournament. I am now able to do so because I am no longer a committee member and under no moral obligation to the team. And I will do this by way of the letter to MCF outlining the case.

My reasons for doing this are 3 fold.

1. The manner decisions are reached in Associations are a mystery to most. I have been in chess for 6 years now and only from my short stay in PICA did I manage to catch a glimpse of the internal politics. I think it is important for members of Associations to know what they are voting for.

2. This is also a poser to MCF to see if they feel they have a moral obligation to ensure that the elected officials of their affiliates are treated fairly and in accordance to the Consitution. Or if it's just a decorative piece of paper? Whether they believe that they have an obligation to address the excesses of their affiliates? MCF's response will tell us much about what they think is important for the development of chess. Whether if the rules only apply to players and selections or if they apply to the affiliates/officials themselves? I have officially written to MCF when I was still in the committee and the ball is now in their court.

3. In a manner of speaking this will also be an attempt to clear my name as I have been sacked as a committee member without a hearing and without due process. And to compound the matter I have also been removed as a member of PICA which now casts aspersions on my integrity. Currently this blog remains my only voice as my rights as well as the rights of every member who voted for me have been taken away. Someone once said, if they believe, no proof is necessary and if they don't, no amount of proof will suffice. Lets put this to the test.

Note: This blog and it's "revelations" started much after the events stated and so should not be confused for to the reasons why the behaviour mentioned ocurred. I have also mentioned names here for reasons of clarity as I see no need to protect their identity in view of their attack on my person.

I will try to conclude the series in my last part so you may share my perspective.

ps: Please excuse my ramblings in the preamble of my email to MCF. There was and still continues to be much confusion about what model is permissible given the status of PICA as an NGO. This is much clearer now with the successful launch of the DATCC model. Strangely this model was "rejected" by PICA when I proposed it although I understand they were acting under advicement from the initiators of DATCC. And we now see DATCC working in tandem with PICA. You'll get better clarity just looking at the sequence of events. But if you are interested in the convoluted logic to Association politics, the preamble can shed some light.

My email to MCF here. This email was sent before I was officially informed by letter of my sacking. At that time Greg told me there was nothing he could do until the official letter came. I am still waiting for an official response from MCF.

Sign of life from PICA

Just got a note from Hamid that PICA is doing a grand prix for Perak. Congratulations to PICA. This is a welcome addition to the effort to bring Perak back to the National arena. But there are a few questions I would like to address here.

1. Have the PICA rating been finally abolished? It says on the form MCF/FIDE rating. The PICA rating has been used controversially in the past and created confused pairings. This happened in last years Clearwater event for instance.

2. Will cross tables of the events be published? The lack of cross tables has lead to questions of the legitimacy of the current Perak Champion as another example.

3. PICA has stated that they reserve the right to reject entries. Will conditions for rejection be based on personal issues as for instance, in the case of Ainaa (official's daughter had a problem with Ainaa in school), which was brought up in the last AGM or will it be based on objective reasons?

I ask this questions for the dignity of Perakians. Now that you have a good sponsor again PICA, I hope you will not mire the State of Perak in these controversies again.

But I hold up some hope as this is jointly organised by Datcc, an organisation that has to date been professionally run. If the 3 questions I asked are satisfactorily answered then this is a true blessing to Perak. Welcome PICA back to the chess fraternity.

So I move in faith and post up the entry forms here. I hope I wont regret this decision. Click here for particulars

The need for cross tables to be published

I brought Mark to play some friendly chess at Limau Bali yesterday. There were alot of murmurings about the recently finished Perak Close which is an important event to determine the Perak Champion and flag bearer. Apart from the fact that it was only 8 rounds with 45mins time control when most important tournaments are 9 rounds and 90mins+30sec increment, no tie break was announced. I was also told that there were a few players with the same points. Normally in a championship tournament, the champion will be decided by a play off. To add further injury no cross table has been published. (The cross table together with the tie break allows for the results of the tournament to be checked). This is the common practice everywhere I go. Then there can be no dispute who the real champion is.

Over the years there have been some controversy about the results coming from Perak. From personal experience, I can recount this incident. Mark was playing at a tournament at Cosmopoint a few years back. In a 7 round event, he won his first 6 rounds and lost his 7th. He came in 5th. Just outside of the prize category. I didnt know about cross tables then but I have asked many experienced tournament organisers since and they have categorically said that the result was not possible.

And this is not an isolated incident. Surely the Perak chess Association does not want its results mired in such controversy. Can our State champion stand with his head tall in the midst of this? One clear way out is for the cross tables to be published.

Then there can be no dispute. I invite the Perak chess Association to give an explantion here or post the cross tables for all to see. Let 2010 see a new chess culture in Perak.