Nobody in their right mind will support a community bent on destroying itself. No good sponsor will do so simply because that community really cannot be helped. But the culture of a few people is giving all of us a bad name and giving the impression to the outside world that we condone such behaviour.
In the Lim Zhuo Ren case, I am told that he was attacked until he broke down and forced to write that email. I am also informed that he was lied to about the selection and told that a deal had been struck for him to represent Malaysia for SEA games even if he lost in the selection; if he wrote that email. This is unbecoming conduct.
The attacks by those few people on Air Asia has lead to no sponsorship for training this year. Do the maths on the number of people going to Asean this year and measure the quantum of damage they have done.
The active sabotage of FGM's Thematic Tournaments is a most vicious act. No alternative offered.
How are we to get our players to the next level if we allow this type of behaviour to occur again and again?
I do not think we can afford to close our eyes anymore. If they cannot offer a better solution then do not threaten the bloggers who are supporting the event and do not sabotage.
Our community had better wake up and start to work together to build a better future or we will all still be here 30 years from now and saying the same old thing. Stop these unrepresentative voices on the shoutboxes. Do not give exposure to the vile and slanderous sites. And do not allow these few people to intimidate you to the point you cannot decide what is right and wrong. That too is mental strength. Display this strength against these people and it will also be reflected in your chess game. If you can be intimidated by mosquitoes, then you have no chance against strong minds across the chess board.
Clean up our own house and the sponsors will come. Help make us a community worth supporting. Help to make us a strong community.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
The parts, the whole and the disease.
Some guy on gilachess shoutbox says that having a Head of Delegation who acts responsibly to the players has nothing to do with chess. The venue they stay in has nothing to do with chess. What can I say? He has obviously never played at a high level International Tournament before. And he has definitely never been on the winners podium. So he is must be just an idiot.
Anyone who has been to Jimmy's site and seen the bunch of negative people that congregate there, because they are carefully nurtured like minds, will think that all chess people are like that. No big deal right? They have the right to their opinion, they have the right to slander, tear down, lie, etc. etc.
But wait. Are they representative of the chess players, chess parents, chess officials and organisers you know? Or are they like the few meek people who suddenly act like road rage maniacs the moment they are behind a car?
So now comes a sponsor. He goes into our chess blogs and he sees these people on the shoutboxes with a brain the size of a pea and much smaller IQ's. Would the sponsor think all chess people are like them? They are the most vocal. They threaten, harangue etc. The parts and the whole.
The entire chess community is now tarred by the same brush. What would a surgeon do if he found a diseased part in the body? That disease has even got the players to think they are at fault when they have not been taught how to win, have not been given the tools, the resources or the support to win. A malignant disease and it wants to spread.
What will you think of us if you are an outsider looking in. Would you want to sponsor these people? Are they in the way? Or do they genuinely represent your voice? Because if they do, then dont dream of getting good sponsors. The parts and the whole.
A suggestion. Close down the shoutboxes or delete stupid posts. Unless you are like them of course. Support the blogs that are furthering chess and delink from the ones that are doing damage. Then visitors may want to visit and spend time with us. Seriously, if the chess community is represented by those voices, we are doomed.
Fix the faulty parts and the whole will function.
Anyone who has been to Jimmy's site and seen the bunch of negative people that congregate there, because they are carefully nurtured like minds, will think that all chess people are like that. No big deal right? They have the right to their opinion, they have the right to slander, tear down, lie, etc. etc.
But wait. Are they representative of the chess players, chess parents, chess officials and organisers you know? Or are they like the few meek people who suddenly act like road rage maniacs the moment they are behind a car?
So now comes a sponsor. He goes into our chess blogs and he sees these people on the shoutboxes with a brain the size of a pea and much smaller IQ's. Would the sponsor think all chess people are like them? They are the most vocal. They threaten, harangue etc. The parts and the whole.
The entire chess community is now tarred by the same brush. What would a surgeon do if he found a diseased part in the body? That disease has even got the players to think they are at fault when they have not been taught how to win, have not been given the tools, the resources or the support to win. A malignant disease and it wants to spread.
What will you think of us if you are an outsider looking in. Would you want to sponsor these people? Are they in the way? Or do they genuinely represent your voice? Because if they do, then dont dream of getting good sponsors. The parts and the whole.
A suggestion. Close down the shoutboxes or delete stupid posts. Unless you are like them of course. Support the blogs that are furthering chess and delink from the ones that are doing damage. Then visitors may want to visit and spend time with us. Seriously, if the chess community is represented by those voices, we are doomed.
Fix the faulty parts and the whole will function.
The power of believe and the Mal/Sing. story.
Believe lends confidence. The first thing I ask the players is if they believe in the training they are receiving. Do they trust their Trainer, their Coach?
If the players believe that they are getting comparable training as their opponents are getting, it lends believe. It lends confidence.
If the training is started early enough so that the players can work on their weaknesses instead of doing quick emergency repairs just before the Tournament, it lends confidence, it lends believe. But all these take coordination, proper support.
If the parents know that they have the financial support, then they are less stressed and can be more supportive in other ways.
Now if the players are getting all this and they still fail then the spotlight should be on the player. That is nurturing Talent.
If the player has none of the above and he still wins; If he is able to run the Olympics without shoes and win. That is mental strength. That is grit.
Malaysia vs Singapore is no small thing. We won away from home. We won with less resources, less training and less preparation. So why is this achievement put down by Jimmy? Is today's chess comparable to running? How would our IM's have faired in todays Asian Youth? That would be an interesting test.
Kaulshal, if you had been given proper resources, given proper training and support and you didnt win, I'll look at you and say you suck at chess. I'll agree that its the players fault. But would it be fair for me to say that now? Be fair to yourself. Dont take the blame for other peoples shortcoming.
If the players believe that they are getting comparable training as their opponents are getting, it lends believe. It lends confidence.
If the training is started early enough so that the players can work on their weaknesses instead of doing quick emergency repairs just before the Tournament, it lends confidence, it lends believe. But all these take coordination, proper support.
If the parents know that they have the financial support, then they are less stressed and can be more supportive in other ways.
Now if the players are getting all this and they still fail then the spotlight should be on the player. That is nurturing Talent.
If the player has none of the above and he still wins; If he is able to run the Olympics without shoes and win. That is mental strength. That is grit.
Malaysia vs Singapore is no small thing. We won away from home. We won with less resources, less training and less preparation. So why is this achievement put down by Jimmy? Is today's chess comparable to running? How would our IM's have faired in todays Asian Youth? That would be an interesting test.
Kaulshal, if you had been given proper resources, given proper training and support and you didnt win, I'll look at you and say you suck at chess. I'll agree that its the players fault. But would it be fair for me to say that now? Be fair to yourself. Dont take the blame for other peoples shortcoming.
Dear Dr Kaushal
I think you have described the symptoms afflicting Malaysian chess well in your comments below. Lets have a little debate. Read this first. Here.
For sure there is a lack of discipline, the lack of understanding of the hierarchy of priorities. Good judgement requires one to see a balance of views. Not only opinions we like but also opinions we do not like. And put it all on a weighing scale.
I hope you can see, these are not skills we are born with. It needs to be developed. And my friend, that is also the game of chess in a nutshell.
Now we come to the crux. As I said in the article, those are difficult skills to develop. Chess provides the passion to enable the teaching of those skills. But who is responsible for the teaching? So if we see our kids slowly sliding where would be the cause?
It seems to me that you think the players should take the guilt for that lack of discipline. I look at it from the other side when the child is young.
I made a stand in the Zhuo Ren case simply because he is no more a child. But the seed of what happened was planted in him a long time back. But at some point he must learn to move past the damage and take responsibility for his own actions. But what I am talking about is the damage inflicted when he was not yet an adult.
So I am asking the adults to be more responsible. Stop blaming the children for their own failing. The guilt should not be laid on the children. And I am also asking them not to sacrifice the child on the altar of their own egos/fears.
Then Malaysian Chess will progress. That is the responsibility of the adults. The parents, adult players; IM's, FM's etc. The Associations, Trainers and Coaches. Dont you think that its weird that it becomes the childrens fault in some of their eyes?
For sure there is a lack of discipline, the lack of understanding of the hierarchy of priorities. Good judgement requires one to see a balance of views. Not only opinions we like but also opinions we do not like. And put it all on a weighing scale.
I hope you can see, these are not skills we are born with. It needs to be developed. And my friend, that is also the game of chess in a nutshell.
Now we come to the crux. As I said in the article, those are difficult skills to develop. Chess provides the passion to enable the teaching of those skills. But who is responsible for the teaching? So if we see our kids slowly sliding where would be the cause?
It seems to me that you think the players should take the guilt for that lack of discipline. I look at it from the other side when the child is young.
I made a stand in the Zhuo Ren case simply because he is no more a child. But the seed of what happened was planted in him a long time back. But at some point he must learn to move past the damage and take responsibility for his own actions. But what I am talking about is the damage inflicted when he was not yet an adult.
So I am asking the adults to be more responsible. Stop blaming the children for their own failing. The guilt should not be laid on the children. And I am also asking them not to sacrifice the child on the altar of their own egos/fears.
Then Malaysian Chess will progress. That is the responsibility of the adults. The parents, adult players; IM's, FM's etc. The Associations, Trainers and Coaches. Dont you think that its weird that it becomes the childrens fault in some of their eyes?
Monday, May 23, 2011
Asian Youth- The report
Ref: Here.
What did we do right?
On our arrival at Subic Bay, we were told that the Malaysian contingent had been transferred to another hotel away from the playing venue. However our Head of Contingent, Mr Yeap was having none of this. Just like Adzlin did for Asean last year, he told the contingent to put down their bags while he arm wrestled with the Hotel management. The entire contingent got to stay at the playing venue. A seemingly small victory but I think a significant one. I believe this contributed to our little ones who got placings.
Another thing we did right and a first as far as I know, is that the Head of contingent was present for every game and stood in the hall for the entire duration while our players fought their hearts out. He needs to be there in case any of our players got into trouble and need a witness who can intervene on their behalf.
So kudos to MCF for bringing a Head of delegation who was responsible and accountable to the players and sponsors. Mr Yeap has set a new benchmark for MCF officials.
Competitors analysis- The gap.
I focused more on the U14 to U18. I want to know why we dont do well after U12. Using the competitors analysis model we further developed during the SEA games selection, I proceeded to continue to measure the gap to try to get insights into ways to narrow it.
Here are some observations and analysis from the postmortem of mainly Mark's experience.
One thing that stood out more than anything else to me was the ability of the Indians to maximise their use of time to find deep strategies and their almost perfect execution of technique when the correct winning strategy is found. This is expressed by the way they manage their time. In one game with Jianwen, his opponent was on his 30 sec increment from move 18. This speaks of clear, sophisticated understanding and complex thinking as well as excellent impulse control.
This also speaks of well developed competitors analysis and models of engagement in different scenarios. To me this is very suggestive of the training modules we will need to have in order to move up the pecking order.
Another observation which I am currently attempting to address with our Thematics is familiarity with our openings. Mark played King Indians Defence for one game and it is clear to me that his understanding and practice of that opening is not deep enough for an International field.
Conclusion.
As usual I shared with parents present as well as some of the players there. I was told by the parent of one of our protege's that our IM's do have a version of competitors analysis but this knowledge is not transmitted down. So we have lost a lot of knowledge expensively and painfully gained from our chess history. It is sad that we are now only beginning to put together a model from our current experience.
I am gratified that Sumant contacted me the moment I arrived back yesterday and asked for support for Asian Junior. So maybe we have something. Not as sophisticated as the Indians perhaps but I think it is better than sitting down whining and trying to shift the blame to MCF or other convenient targets.
Blame can only be apportioned to those who have and do not give. You cannot blame someone and ask them to give something they do not have. Clear enough?
Why do I say that? Look here. This pisses me off. Instead of passing down his experience, he tries to shift the blame again. It's OK Jimmy, you dont have to do anything constructive, we can find our own way. But dont try to shift the blame. That is unacceptable. If you cannot contribute, at least have the grace to shut up and stop putting down the juniors. You know very well that MCF do not have that expertise. So there is no need to rub salt into their wounds or to attack others who are trying to do something.
I am confident that by next year more juniors will qualify for the Olympiads. If you dont believe me, try out for that selection Jimmy. We are learning fast.
U12 shows we have the talent. U14 to U18 shows we do not have the training. You are not born with those skills that the Indians displayed. That needs to be correctly trained.
What did we do right?
On our arrival at Subic Bay, we were told that the Malaysian contingent had been transferred to another hotel away from the playing venue. However our Head of Contingent, Mr Yeap was having none of this. Just like Adzlin did for Asean last year, he told the contingent to put down their bags while he arm wrestled with the Hotel management. The entire contingent got to stay at the playing venue. A seemingly small victory but I think a significant one. I believe this contributed to our little ones who got placings.
Another thing we did right and a first as far as I know, is that the Head of contingent was present for every game and stood in the hall for the entire duration while our players fought their hearts out. He needs to be there in case any of our players got into trouble and need a witness who can intervene on their behalf.
So kudos to MCF for bringing a Head of delegation who was responsible and accountable to the players and sponsors. Mr Yeap has set a new benchmark for MCF officials.
Competitors analysis- The gap.
I focused more on the U14 to U18. I want to know why we dont do well after U12. Using the competitors analysis model we further developed during the SEA games selection, I proceeded to continue to measure the gap to try to get insights into ways to narrow it.
Here are some observations and analysis from the postmortem of mainly Mark's experience.
One thing that stood out more than anything else to me was the ability of the Indians to maximise their use of time to find deep strategies and their almost perfect execution of technique when the correct winning strategy is found. This is expressed by the way they manage their time. In one game with Jianwen, his opponent was on his 30 sec increment from move 18. This speaks of clear, sophisticated understanding and complex thinking as well as excellent impulse control.
This also speaks of well developed competitors analysis and models of engagement in different scenarios. To me this is very suggestive of the training modules we will need to have in order to move up the pecking order.
Another observation which I am currently attempting to address with our Thematics is familiarity with our openings. Mark played King Indians Defence for one game and it is clear to me that his understanding and practice of that opening is not deep enough for an International field.
Conclusion.
As usual I shared with parents present as well as some of the players there. I was told by the parent of one of our protege's that our IM's do have a version of competitors analysis but this knowledge is not transmitted down. So we have lost a lot of knowledge expensively and painfully gained from our chess history. It is sad that we are now only beginning to put together a model from our current experience.
I am gratified that Sumant contacted me the moment I arrived back yesterday and asked for support for Asian Junior. So maybe we have something. Not as sophisticated as the Indians perhaps but I think it is better than sitting down whining and trying to shift the blame to MCF or other convenient targets.
Blame can only be apportioned to those who have and do not give. You cannot blame someone and ask them to give something they do not have. Clear enough?
Why do I say that? Look here. This pisses me off. Instead of passing down his experience, he tries to shift the blame again. It's OK Jimmy, you dont have to do anything constructive, we can find our own way. But dont try to shift the blame. That is unacceptable. If you cannot contribute, at least have the grace to shut up and stop putting down the juniors. You know very well that MCF do not have that expertise. So there is no need to rub salt into their wounds or to attack others who are trying to do something.
I am confident that by next year more juniors will qualify for the Olympiads. If you dont believe me, try out for that selection Jimmy. We are learning fast.
U12 shows we have the talent. U14 to U18 shows we do not have the training. You are not born with those skills that the Indians displayed. That needs to be correctly trained.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Today's Contemplation.
Wherever the delusion of your selfhood appears there's hell. Wherever "you" aren't that's heaven.
-- Abu Sa'id in Ibn Munawwar, "Asrar at-tawhid"
-- Abu Sa'id in Ibn Munawwar, "Asrar at-tawhid"
Asian Youth reports. May 15th to 21st.
I will be giving daily reports to Andrew Ooi of gilachess so you can follow the action there. Leaving for KL tomorrow morning for meetings so there will be no more posts here till after I get back on the 22nd.
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