Ingredients for developing the chess mind.

These are the two most ingredients. Passion and curiosity. And then it must be tampered by courage and discipline. If you lose any of these then your journey will come to an early stop.

If you lose your passion because no matter how hard you work there is always someone taking your place via the back door then you will eventually give up and stop.

If you lose your curiosity and stop asking questions because they attack you when you try out new ideas then your journey will eventually stop too.

If you lose your courage then you will never develop the discipline to train. Because real training requires courage. To look at the things you are scared of and then to do the training to overcome it.

Like the ingredients to bake a cake. If you are missing the necessary ingredients the cake will collapse in the oven.

Happy Chinese New Year.

Happy Chinese New Year peeps. Have a good one with the horse.

The question of impugning ulterior motives.

I think one of the great lessons of chess is in teaching us of the dangers of wrong assumptions. Many things look like, sound like but is not.

So let us examine motives today. It seems to me when I read the comments of many chess players, the underlying assumption is that the other party always has ulterior motives and so we read many hidden agendas into anything others say or do whether it is there or not. Ref: Here.

It appears to me that this conclusion can be easily assumed from the game of chess which is adversarial in nature. However if we reach this conclusion in every situation then this becomes a thinking trap.

Lets look at a normal discourse first to highlight this danger. In law, in business there is a concept called "in good faith". That basically means that the underlying assumption here is that there are no hidden agendas and everything is above board. Now this is a very important concept. Let us see why.

Actually that is the only way a partnering deal can be made. Do note this. The moment an hidden agenda is detected then good faith is lost and the situation quickly becomes confrontational (or defensive which is an inverse form of confrontation and with the same net effect).

And so to impugn ulterior motives is to destroy any possible chances of a genuine partnership. Can you now see this as another reason why chess can be a double edged sword?

Before we can impugn hidden motives, the situation must be taken through many tests. For the moment this assumption is made, the open discourse has come to an end.

To see this clearly we must see beyond the superficiality of the nature of chess and get to essence of the game ie make no assumptions till you have fully tested the situation.

As another exercise, try imagining how this "understanding" can affect your friendships, your relationships in the course of normal life. What happens to you and your mind if you think everyone you meet has ulterior motives before the fact?

Note: Chess is a great tool in learning how to compete especially if the other party has conclusively demonstrated their intent. But when that is not the case, then you would be better off learning from another tool. The ability to make that distinction is important as it can affect your entire life.

If you must make speculative statements.

I was following an online debate when one of the commentators made what was deemed a speculative statement.

Note: What that means is that a statement is made without physical evidence. Much of cutting edge science is speculative in nature. That means the ideas are postulated as a hypothesis.

Now, in that debate, another commentator argued that if speculative statements must be made, it must at least be followed by the reasoning behind it.

I think this is very important for chess players to understand. There are many wild theories floating about and many dubious decisions made in Malaysian chess. At the very least it must be followed by the reasoning behind it.

Why?

Because we are a mind sport. And a mind sport is supposed to teach you how to think. And so wild theories and dubious decisions not backed by solid reasoning needs to be rejected if mental development is what we are after from our sport.

A chess prodigy makes good in business.

Here.

Thank you Steven for this article. This is what I was thinking when I read it.

A constant criticism I hear about chess players is that they are almost always confrontational. It is almost always win/lose for them. Maybe that is the nature of the game and probably that is also why not many of them do well in business.

So this article speaks to me on how the skills developed from chess can be powerful when it is combined with the skills learnt from the game of Bridge. Bridge teaches you how to partner in order to compete better. This is simply because business is also about having good partners for you cannot win in business all alone.

And provided you don't lose your confidence as is very possible under the constant mental onslaught that chess can bring, then you have a very powerful formula for success in business.

So is there a way forward?

I think there is.

And it will come when MCF can behave professionally. That means no more side doors , back doors or biased selection for the crony/kangkung players. That means the efforts and sacrifices of ALL the players, parents and coaches within the chess community is respected. That also means the end of banning/sacking without grounds etc.

Gens Una Sumus. Ref: Here.

The key to this lies in the selection criteria.

ALL of the drama we see is to facilitate for the players who need the short cuts. And their supporters are parents who have no confidence in their children's abilities, trainers/coaches who have no confidence in their own abilities. Ref: Here.

And then the Officials exploit this to cari makan.

So once MCF is professional and fair to all then we will all move forward purely according to the effort we each put in.

It all starts by correcting the selection criteria. Focus on this and change will happen and our GM will come. And Malaysia will become a force in the chess world. We have the talent and we have the resources.

Caveat. So long as our strong players are not knocked out by the back door boys. So long as the resources do not disappear into a deep endless pit. We do not have enough resources for their greed.

Notes on training and tournaments.

Do read this again. Here.

My point is that before we can raise the standard of chess in Malaysia, we need to adopt a strong training culture. So let me relate some of my thinking and attempts at preparation here.

The first thing that comes to mind is that the training for blitz, standard and classical is different. And while you can develop some ideas in the laboratory of training, the best method to test the validity of the ideas is in actual competition. In the same or nearest time control.

And so on the assumption that National Close was going to be in June like last year and before, we had prepared to train and then to test the training and ideas at HD (Vietnam) in March and then KL Open in April before NC. Both are high level tournaments that will test our ideas and training to the fullest.

So you can imagine how the sudden change of timetable affected our training plans and need for testing before we enter the National Close. Now we must go and play on the fly which is bad all round.

But before you jump to the conclusion that it is about me or FGM, let me say that this affects all the players that are going to attempt a challenge at the National Close.

As a result of moving the date so far forward the standard is bound to drop all round and advantage given to those with prior knowledge. But the net effect will still be that the competition won't be as stiff during National Close in March as it would have been if it had been held in June. And this will impact on the overall quality of the games.

But what is done is done even as we now scramble to pare down and streamline our training and without the benefit of testing out the ideas before going to National Close since we had to cancel HD as the dates coincide.

I trust you can see how this will finally affect the overall standard of chess in Malaysia. If the culture of training is well inculcated then MCF would have ensured that all players are informed well in advance. A proper training should take about a year, given other constraints and priorities. Six months or so we thought, was going to cut it fine. But 6 weeks warning for THE NATIONAL EVENT?!! (Give or take for CNY).

That is of course if the goal is to raise the standard of chess in Malaysia. If the goal is that we are going to fight for medals, to raise our standing in the world circuit or to eventually get our own GM.

Iron sharpens iron. We need ALL our players to raise their standard before our GM will come. It is that simple.

Therefore I think the only thing left that we can still do now to try to raise the standard is to at least make sure that the selection criteria better serves the strongest players in Malaysia. And that would be to make the selection criteria top 8 from NC versus top 8 from active rating. Or a close variation. Straight from the top.

Or we will be sending a weak team to the Olympiads. Over to you MCF.

Chess as a tool to develop National character?

I read on facebook that some Countries are using chess to develop the character of their citizens. Lets examine that today. I have always said that chess is a doubled edged sword. It can be used to build or it can be used to tear down.

It can be used to build under the following conditions:

That the player is taught how to continue to think and reason under the pressures of intense competition. This is achieved by developing the winning mindset. And this is how it can be accomplished. Here. If this is done correctly, then our players will be taught how to find solutions despite the pressures.

And character is developed when they are able to do the right thing and come to the right solution inspite of the pressure to mentally cave in. To give in to their fears. In chess we have this opportunity to correct the thinking one move at a time, one game at a time and one tournament at the time. And when you can do that you develop your character.

For that is how character is defined and formed.

On the other hand chess can be used to tear down. As a result there is no ability to think, to reason and to find solutions. When that happens, this is the result. Here. When they lose the debate all they have is lies and slander. Threats and intimidation.

And that is the way to develop future gangsters and criminals. 

Which type of chess would you choose for your children? Which type of chess builds character? Which type of chess do we need? That is the question before us today. And we get to choose before Feb 7. Before the criteria for NC is finalised. For the criteria will show us which type of chess Malaysia practices and will continue to practice.

Note: At the very least we should be given the space to practice the chess we want without being attacked. Ref: Here.

Thank you for your time.

More on the JPEG Scandal.

Ref: Here

Before I start, I want to thank James Ho for the new acronym. James, I accidentally deleted your comment. My apologies.

My coaching methods include developing the character of the player for I believe that without a strong character you cannot win in a competitive environment. So I train Mark not to agree to a draw. A draw must only be reached when both sides have run out of ideas to win. I have also referred to this as mental strength training in the past. To me chess is the ideal training round for this as the pressures to quit mentally is very very high.

Development via chess is about learning how to compete by RAISING YOUR GAME inspite of the outside pressures.

So of course, we prepare to win against Yit San and Li Tian. Read this. Here. JPEG, this is chess and learning how to compete is the purpose of the game. So how can this cause such foaming of the mouth in you guys? Isn't that already a given? Are we talking about the same game? Or are you saying you don't want to play without a deal?

Why does my coaching of our Juniors on how to compete create such fears in you? Here. Have you no faith in your own players or your training methods?

How does that warrant you trying to ban Mark, attack him and me with lies, innuendos and slander? How does that justify you guys from denying him the exposure he deserves as one of the top Juniors in Malaysia?

Li Tian has never won a Junior tournament or got a top placing; has never qualified from National Close. Yet he has been given the chance for multiple International tournaments as part of the senior squad etc on Malaysia's expense. And by taking the place of stronger Juniors/players without merit. So are we not allowed to ask those questions?

We did not ask to ban him. We asked that he qualifies just like everybody else.

My coaching methods may differ from theirs and I do not arrange for the back doors simply because I see chess as the training ground for Mark, for instance, when he goes into business later in life. In fact I have also taught him the game of Bridge as that game teaches him on how to partner to compete better. We are here to learn from anything that helps us improve.

So why is it that we are not allowed that space?

We do not try to ban you. We do not disrupt your deals apart from not agreeing to be a part of it. We do not even object when you use your own arbiter. That is your choice, your chosen path in life. You want to raise liars, so be it. You want to risk going to prison, so be it. That is your choice. And not for me to judge.

We merely ask for a fair selection criteria so that all is given a chance based on their chess skills alone. Including you guys.

So are we not allowed to make other choices? We choose to compete when we meet on the table. We choose to compete without cheating or depriving others of their rightful place.

So JPEG, the scandal is because you do not allow for anyone NOT to become like you. You try to make it a crime to be honest. You try to make asking for a clean selection a crime against Malaysian chess and healthy competition a dirty word.

We have lost our direction.

Lets start today by stating a goal. A goal that should be obvious and beyond dispute. Lets say our goal is to find the strongest possible chess players we have to represent Malaysia. Lets say this is because we want medals, we want our own GM and we are tired of being trashed and relegated in the International circuit.

Are we agreed on that?

If yes, then let us examine one of the arguments presented by Jimmy and his backers that the active rating is an indication of fighting strength. Let us see if this premise holds water. Apart from the results of Jimmy that I have used to dispute this assumption, lets also try to reason this out. So the results have been submitted as evidence. Ref: Here. Agreed? Look to the other posts for the details.

Now let us try reasoning and logic. Would I be correct if I am to say that the Fide rating is related to the number of Fide tournaments you are given the opportunity to attend? If so then what happens to a strong player who does not have that exposure to give him a high rating? Does that make him a weaker player? Have you heard of players with no rating that can beat our "Masters"? Players from Indonesis, The Philippines etc.

Let us now try to see if the training strategy also affect rating numbers. If say the training strategy is to first learn how to win before you learn how to draw, would that also affect the numbers? To learn how to win, you can lose too. And that affects rating in the short term. But maybe the coach thinks that this is a very important lesson to learn for it will take you further in the longer term. Possible yes? Learning to draw would give you a higher rating in the shorter term but you may hit a wall later. Make sense?

So there are reasonable causes for a lower fide rating that has nothing to do with fighting strength.

Now if that makes sense and we want the strongest fighting players to represent Malaysia then the best tool we have should be a clean and fair selection. Yes?

So how did we lose our way? Is it possible that when the considerations are about "my chess friends", my chess academy, my cari makan etc etc then we may lose sight of the goal? Too many conflicting considerations yes?

I think that is what has happened to us. And they say that if we have lost our way, then the best thing to do is to go back to our starting goal.

And the starting goal is that we want the best possible players to represent Malaysia. And the best way to do that is to have a proper selection without fear or favour. Hence the criteria for National Close this year should be top 8 from NC vs top 8 from active list. Or a close variation. But straight down the line, yes?

Then we will win medals again, then we will have our own GM.

Note: To get a GM norm you need to fight above your rating. Ergo, you need to be a fighter well versed in the art of competition. It cannot be done just by showing your fat numbers and hoping your opponent will collapse from fright. Have you seen many high rated IM's that cannot get even one GM norm? The reason is probably because they fight for ratings and not fight to win.

Does that also make sense?

So we have a chance to change our direction during this coming NC. Is anyone willing to step up to the plate and fight for the progress of Malaysian chess within MCF? From our State Associations? 

Lets get a good criteria for selection and close the back doors for good.