Every new generation of players....

Must strive to go further than the old guards. Every new chess official must strive to be better than his/her predecessor. Then we have progress.

So when lies are spread that they are all washed up when they are not GM by 15yo, we must correct those lies. When they are told that they must wait their turn till the old guards retire or they will make enemies, we must raise our vigilance; if we want progress.

When they bully, lie to and attack one of our Juniors till he breaks down, we must get to the truth of the matter or we will have no next generation. I don't think all the IM's are involved but those that are not should speak up or be tainted by the action of their peers.

When they sabotage the only training available to our Juniors before National Representation, we must ask why? When they attack the sponsors, we must investigate the reasons behind those attacks and then we must count the cost.

Go there and listen to their reasons. Here. A handful of people there are trying to reverse any attempts by our chess community to progress. Go there and listen to them. Find out for yourself.

Ask them, what is their solution? Ask them why they need to pick on the Juniors? Ask them why they need to lie? What are they trying to accomplish? What is their goal?

We need our Juniors not to be afraid of them. We need them to see that these people are paper tigers. We need them to fight hard to improve their chess and to go forward.

And if these very very few people become our enemies, so be it. The price of ignoring them; the price of accommodating them is too high. The price is stagnation or even reversal of our chess ambitions. They are just too destructive.

So come on Juniors, get back into the fight. Kaulshal, Izz and all the rest of you guys. The race is not over. Dont let these gangster type people intimidate you. Tell them to pick on someone their own size. The road to those IM norms, GM is wide open. But first you need to stand up for yourself. And then you have to wipe the floor with them on the chess board. This is chess.

A reminder from an old post.

Here.

Good luck at Asian Junior Sumant.

Sumant Subramaniam of Malaysia will be travelling to Sri Langka for the U20 Asian Junior starting on the 1st June. FGM is setting up a remote support system to give him as much help as we can. I am hoping that the lessons Sumant and us learnt over the SEA games training and our lessons at Asian Youth will be helpful to him at this Tournament. Good luck Sumant and give it your best shot. Our best wishes go with you.

Wishing all the MSSM players a good Tournament.

I think this may be Penang's year. They have been working hard and smart for many years now. I think this year could be the year of the harvest.

Winners look for solutions.

Losers, whine, criticize, complain and look for excuses. And the worst ones sabotage. Isnt that what chess teaches us? What would the lessons of chess tell us to do if we want a win as a result and there are obstacles on the board?

Dont bark up the wrong tree.

Every time there is a gathering of the parents, I will hear grouses about MCF. How come we are playing for the Country and no Sponsors? Where is our uniforms? etc. etc. Is it possible that we are barking up the wrong tree?

The first thing we need to do is to look at ourselves. Chess has no spectacular successes like squash or badminton. So there is very little government funding. And I dont think that is going to change anytime soon. Second is that it is not a spectator sport like football so there are no TV rights like FIFA, to sell.

Sometimes I think we may be treating MCF like it is the Government. But it is just an NGO and it does not have Petronas to fill it's coffers.

Look further and you will also see that MCF does not have the people with the right skill sets or experience to deal with the Corporate Sponsors. NGO's like MCF may not even be stable. Only recently have we seen a change in leadership that may inspire confidence. But things still look murky. A written selection is a step in the right direction but it is far from perfect and too recent.

So I think we can see many reasons why MCF cannot by itself get sponsorship today.

But there are a few who still take pot shots at MCF disguised as anonymous bloggers etc. Speculation is rife that those people may even be from MCF itself or those that benefited from past abuses. What could be their motives to try to reverse the first positive steps in regulating chess? Isnt it transparent?

Before Asian Youth, I took the opportunity to speak to some old friends. Dr Nathan, the President of the Malaysian Tenpin Congress and John Eu who just organised the Maybank Open for Golf which carried a million ringgit prize money.

They have a lot of experience bringing in sponsors and working in and with Associations. And they have found solutions to the problem. I will be talking to them again to see if there are steps forward.

But clearly the Asean initiative by FGM was a step forward to getting training for our Juniors. Clearly the Thematics is a step in the right direction to giving our strong players a Tournament to improve their skills.

MCF is a regulatory body. It is supposed to set conditions so that Chess can grow in Malaysia. They need to ensure that our Tournaments benefit Malaysians. They are supposed to be our voice when our players go overseas by liasing with other Associations and Organisers. If they can do that well, isnt it enough? And are they finally not doing that now? Is there new written selection criteria? Are we seeing new responsible Head of Delegations?

So why is some people still telling you that MCF should be responsible for sponsorships and uniforms? Did they implement that in the old regime? Why are they trying to reverse any steps forward? Why did they sabotage FGM's training initiative for the Juniors before International Tournaments? There was sponsorship and uniforms wasnt there? It may not have been free but it was heavily subsidised. Wasnt that a step in the right direction?

So why are they asking you to bark up the wrong tree? Do they now need to be held accountable for their actions? Like I said, Asean is now around the corner again. Do the sums, see the results of their sabotage. Now you will barking at the right tree. Stop this and progress can come. Dont be a victim of misdirection. Focus on where the problem is and we will have traction. Stop using MCF like an old punching bag. Punch where it matters, where things can change for the better.

There are many things we can learn from chess. Apply competitor analysis, here, to the problem. What is the result we want and where is the obstacle? It is not personal. It is the result that we want. Identify the blockage and remove it.

Our image is created by us. Look at ourselves first.

Dear Zhuo Ren

The last thing you said to me before you left my home was that you had come wanting to learn about mental strength. You seemed disappointed that I had no pill, no magic formula. I am sorry that I do not have an easy answer for you.

Maybe that is why you took that "deal". It is definitely a more tempting answer. Guaranteed place. How can I possibly match that?

But lets look more carefully since I did not offer you a solution you wanted then. Or at least a solution that you wanted to hear. First of all, was the deal kosher? Did they deliver on their promise to you? Was it even something that they can or should deliver in the first place?

So why do you think such a deal was offered? Is it because they care about you? That they want you to succeed? Think carefully on this. This may be the answer you are looking for if you really want that mental strength.

Or could it be that they were frightened of you? Did you get a measure of their true skill level? You are going to World Youth. Use that experience well. We measured the strength at Asian youth and we measure "them" at only around 2200 in today's chess. Test it out for yourself there if you found the results of the SEA games selection unconvincing.

Something else. At Asian Youth the top seed was only 2400, the rest were 2300 and 2200's. The strong ones at least. And they are the best in their Countries. These are the 18 year olds I am talking about. So they are not GM's at 15yo are they? Will they become GM's eventually? What do you think? So are you that far away? And is the race really lost? Don't let them fool you.

They used your fears against you. And that can only be because they are fearful themselves. If they really believe that they can beat you fairly, they wouldn't have had to resort to such underhanded ways. What do you think happened to you when you took that deal? Was that reflected by what you did to Sumant after that? I have known you a while. Was that the same Zhuo Ren I knew at one time? The Zhuo Ren I invited into my home?

Now you are instructed not to talk about it. I say talk about it. Those deeds can only thrive in the dark Zhuo Ren. I think you know that. If not for yourself then do it for the next person who will take your place. Do you want that to happen to someone else too? Could this why our Juniors seem to be dropping off after U12?

The crux is this. Their chess is not good. Your chess is just starting to grow. You have many years left to overtake them. But not this way. Improve your chess. Drop the dirty tricks. They are only for people who do not believe in themselves anymore. And so they try to cast an illusion about how "good" they are.

Here is your chance Zhuo Ren. Your chance to be strong mentally. And this is the prescription from me if you want to take it. Tell them to stuff their BS where the sun don't shine. Improve your chess and meet them across the board and beat them. Tell them no more deals.

If you take that prescription, I guarantee you that you will be mentally stronger. Dont become like them. They have given up. Take the other road, you'll go further. If you do that you can achieve those norms. But not this BS way.

Your real friends will tell you the truth Zhuo Ren even if you may not want to hear them at the time. Come back down to earth and see who your real friends truly are.

When you are running a marathon.

There are 2 voices in your mind. One is telling you that you can do it. You have the talent. If you dont believe me measure the distance. You have done it before. And you can do it again. But you need more consistency, you need more training etc. The other voice is telling you, you cannot do it, you are not good enough. It is too far... and that voice in your mind gets louder, they shout more, the closer you get to the finish line. Which voice are you going to listen to?

In Asian youth, I was talking to some parents. They told me of the experience of a Malaysian student in a college in UK, if I remember correctly. They said the boy wrote back and said there were students there who were GM's. And they excelled in their studies too.

Think back. Stop for a while here. Think back and remember who has been telling you those stories that you are not good enough? It is not the parents of Juniors. Who are these people? What was their achievements? Are they relevant today? How many of them are even strong players? They whisper in your ears and they try to take you down. What do you think their motives are?

They attack the sponsors who can help you and then they tell you they are doing it for the good of chess. Look clearly. This is important.

I hear there is now a mini storm over the Zhuo Ren case. See here. Some people are upset. The bullies rely on your silence so they can do this again and again. Remember the case in Perak where the girl was robbed of her win? If there was no publicity, if the case was not exposed, it would have gone on. But there was change there. That PT was replaced and a better one took his place.

So I want you to talk about it. I want you to know what is happening. We are very close to losing another generation of Juniors. I want to intervene as best I can. I want to see this rot end if it is possible. And I think it is possible if we all become more aware of who is really destroying Malaysian chess. Step one.

Where is that glass ceiling?

Is it possible that our Juniors are already at that ceiling but dont know it yet? Did the SEA games selection show us that all that separates them may be some old numbers that doesnt hold true anymore? What would it take for them to go through that ceiling? Breaking new ground....progress...

Musings

I saw the list of the players going to Asean with a slight sinking feeling. Are we now looking for a new Yeoh Li Tian so we can whip up the hype again? What has happened to the older Juniors? The ones that we have invested so heavily in in the past.

How can we grow as a chess community? I think the answer is to help them succeed after U12. We need to see progress in U14, U16, U18 and U20. I agree we have problems with the older Juniors now. But this is where the associations, trainers and coaches can learn. Learn how to undo past mistakes so we dont do them again.

Look carefully. This is what happens when we send them out year after year unprepared. This is what happens when we tell them over and over again that they are not as good as our previous FM's, IM's. In Asian Youth a Junior player estimated that our IM's of yesteryear is probably playing at around 2200 in todays world. Does that estimation ring true? How can this evaluation be tested? There are huge implications if that assumption is correct.

When we set our eyes on doing well overseas, then that glass ceiling that is set in Malaysia will be broken. I asked Mark, "who is the player you most admire in Asian Youth"? Measure his strengths. Try to catch up with him or at least narrow the gap. If this can be done, you will be able to overtake the current level in Malaysia eventually. This goes the same for any of our players.

I told the players during the SEA games training in my home that you must be as well prepared as you can be for a major Tournament. That is the only way to maximise your learning. Go unprepared and you wont know if you lost because you didnt do your homework or because there is a real knowledge gap.

If we give up on the older Juniors now and keep going back to only the U12's we will never learn, we will never grow. The initiative to give training to the Juniors have been sabotaged by certain people. No more training sponsored by Air Asia. No more sponsored flights for parents and officials. And they are also now trying to sabotage the Thematics. I am sure that is because they are planning to offer something much better. Lets wait and see what their solution is. The clock is ticking.

We can only move to another level if we can identify what is blocking our progress and remove it one by one. I cannot see another way out of this trap. Have we learnt anything from the last 30 years? Where are our future FM's, IM's and that GM going to come from if we keep heading down this road and starting with the U12's again and again. We have been blessed with the raw material, the talent. Now how do we move forward?

Note: I see only Nabila surging forward now for Malaysian Chess. Well done girl. That is an example to follow.