Musings on change from a chess perspective.

I went to bed last night a little sad when I heard about the many stories of cheating during PRU13. And this is my perspective. There can be no change unless we change ourselves first. It seems to me that we are always trying to change the other.

This is what I tell my son. If you want to win on the chess table and you think there is cheating, then be the better player. That is the only way. It is almost impossible to convince the other that cheating is not the way. That is a choice that only they can make when the time is right. Maybe one day, when they realise that by cheating they do not become any better as a person or as a chess player.

So just keep changing yourself and don't keep using up all your energy trying to change something or someone that cannot be changed. Changing them is the job of a higher power, not yours.

Your only job on earth is to change yourself. And funnily, I think when you do that, you will find that change can indeed come.

I think that is a lesson that chess can teach us.

What happens when we remove reasoning from chess?

We want to build bridges. Ref: Here.

It is not much fun to see the parents huddled in corners feeling helpless to change anything that they see as wrong. It is not much fun to hear the players complaining of unfair practices on the side but unable to bring the issues up to organisers/arbiters for fear of being victimised.

But for issues to be resolved we need to be able to reason with them and then see action taken to address the problems. It's either that or we may see the frustrations and anger continuing to build.

So what is happening with the Li Tian PR campaign? After the games in Brunei and Melaka, I asked a few people who are strong chess players to evaluate the games. And one of them is the Secretary of Fide. He came back to me to say that the games are suspect.

We all know Li Tian to be a strong Malaysian chess player but the big question is if he is as strong as they claim? So what is happening? What are they doing to him?

I wonder if you have noticed as I have, that a number of our senior players have high Fide ratings but don't dare to play anymore. I first noticed that in Perak and then later on the National level. If you look carefully you will see that they will either play at Veterans or Team events where they can shift the blame or they will register in the Open events and then pull out giving various "reasons". Now we need to understand why this is so in order to stop this happening in the future. I think the reason is that they are not strong anymore because they have moved down the wrong path. They play to fatten their Fide ratings only since selection is based on "ratings" and so they only choose tournaments where they can do that.

And even those are getting fewer and fewer.

Why do you think they did not release the Malaysian Close 2012 buletin after Li Tian lost 3 games and was still Presidents choice for the Olympiads? How did Jimmy manage to go despite being one of the weaker seniors we have, even in rating terms? Shifting goal posts no?

So will Li Tian follow the path of those failed seniors? Are they really interested in developing him or will he become another casualty of the game of egos they are really playing. Will Li Tian eventually become another Jimmy or Peter? So the players who do dare to fight and win in clean and open selection are attacked. And even those that they "support" may not end up well.

Isn't it just the weak protecting the weak? And if you are not weak, you will eventually be if you embrace their culture. For in actuality there isn't even a real criteria. It all gets manipulated just so these same people represent the Country whether that can play chess or Not.

Can we realistically expect Fide to take action? Well Ignatius is aware of what is happening and he himself said the games were suspect. But this is a Malaysian problem no? In a better world maybe Fide would look into this but for now we have to take care of ourselves.

The power to make changes are with the State Affiliates. And that power is expressed in the form of resolutions. So I hope a lot of thought is now being put into them. I think it should be very apparent now that we will be unable to reach the "Sharifahs" with reason. We need to either vote them out and/or curb their arbitrary powers to destroy Malaysian chess and our strong players.

Stop the nonsense and have ALL our players compete in healthy competition for selection and I guarantee you our GM will come soon. We have amazing talents if we do not allow them to be destroyed the way they have been for years. Reason this out. Is that not so?

What kind of MCF do we want?

I know I said that I will write about the upcoming presentation of accounts at the AGM yesterday but I felt we should explore this idea first. The accounts is not going anywhere.

So what kind of MCF do we want? But even before that, what kind of President do we want for MCF? Do we want a President that only gives us a few fish from time to time? Do we want a President that gives us fish all the time so we don't have to do anything at all? Or do we want a President who will support programs that teach us how to fish?

I think we need to be very clear on this before we can proceed. What kind of leader that can take us to where we want to go? What happens if we get a new President and then find that nothing has changed but the list of cronies? Just different names doing the same thing.

Personally I prefer a President that will be fair to all, will follow the rules and apply it in the right places. I prefer a President that will be open to new ideas to improve. I prefer a President that will engender a vibrant climate for Malaysian chess. I hear some say that I am an idealist but I don't think that is very accurate. Yes, I do have ideals but I hope it is always grounded in reality.

That is why I also ask for the activation of the State Affiliates at the AGM. I hope there will be debates. I hope that the voting will be open so we know who stands where on all the many issues facing us in the struggle to improve Malaysian chess. Checks and balances. Ref: Here.

That's all for today. I will try to follow this with the continuation of the series tomorrow if time permits. I just wanted to say this first.

Sunday musings.

Ref: Here.

I have always wondered why certain people cannot seem to understand that it is all about improving MCF or improving Malaysian chess standards. So lets examine this concept a little on this lazy Sunday. Lets say we support a good idea when we hear it, no matter where it comes from and then try to implement it, won't the end result be improvement?

But on the other hand we support a good idea only when it comes from our camp and we do not dare to criticize a bad idea because it comes from our camp, then aren't we doing this? Aren't we putting one leg on the accelerator and the other on the brakes? And doesn't it become a lot worse when our camp generates close to none or only a very very few good ideas? Then we just have the brakes since the ideas are coming from the other side.

Is that what is happening to Malaysian chess today? Is that why we keep spinning on the same spot? And if the rest are moving forward then aren't we going backwards relatively?

I really want to talk more about how the other Countries are producing GM's. Over the years a few foreigners have shared with me and I think some of those ideas can be implemented here.

But what is our reality today? You see, there is no point talking about these things until we can figure out why some of our own people are sabotaging our own Juniors, our own players and find a way to stop them from doing this again. There is no point talking about ideas to improve when the money keeps disappearing.

We need to take our legs off the brakes.

So until we learn to accept good ideas or good work no matter where it comes from, then there is no way forward. Until they can allow people apart from their cronies to contribute and not try to intimidate or sabotage others just because they have no ideas of their own we cannot move forward.

So first things first. Bring back selection, stop the abuses. That is the need of the day. Don't reward the rule breakers. Censure them. I think you can now see clearly it is not about FGM.

An innocent Treasurer is attacked. Parents in the MCF committee are attacked. Whole State Associations are attacked. Anyone who wants to suggest improvement is attacked.

Is that not the case? Is it not the case that it is a very small handful of people that have kept the entire community of chess players in Malaysia from progressing for all these years?

Isn't that why they try to heap on themselves all those false praises like calling themselves Ferrari's etc etc and attack you so venomously when you try to raise any real issues or win a selection to the senior squad when you have been warned to wait your turn?

But even then, can we not give a genuine praise when a good calender comes out. It's just a calender. We praise that although we know that a calender is just a calender with pretty pages so long as the sabotage continues.

But still it is a good calender. So let us be grateful for that at least and work harder to make sure that something tangible comes out of that calender. If we criticize even that then won't we become just like them? Where black becomes white and vice versa.

Then it becomes about hate and not improvement anymore.

Musings- What have bullies got in common?

Right at the very beginning of FGM, we went about doing our work trying to find ways and means to develop the Juniors without disturbing anyone. But we were incessantly attacked by Jimmy and his cronies. He attacked our programs and he attacked my players. Somehow our ideas of developing the juniors deeply frightened and offended him. When we finally decided to retaliate in self defence he goes around saying that he doesn't understand why I have such a negative opinion of him.

I guess him and his kind have gotten too used to bullying small children and frightened parents. They just don't know how to handle it when people can fight back. So that is also the clue to beating him on the chess table. Bullies are really cowards. And cowardice will show in all they do.

And now on facebook we have 2 more small time cronies, Alen and Irwan from Neo Manhattan. And they think they are the chess community. I think they can only come to that conclusion because they can't count.

Musings

How can we tell if the spirit is broken or damaged? I think we can tell that the spirit is still intact when we can still feel shame if we do something wrong.

Musings

Over the years I have had many similar conversations. Some were talking about wanting a GM, some talk about changing MCF. What I have always said is there is no use charging in like the bull in a china shop.

First we must be still and learn the true nature of the position. It's just like chess. We have 30 plus years of history to tell us what hasn't work. We just have to peer through the illusions to see more clearly. Those that have been responsible for creating those illusions are not our enemies. They are in fact our friends. By being there and trying to confuse us, they are merely helping us grow.

Just like your opponents in chess. They are not your enemies. They are there to help you understand the game better. If you keep falling for the same tricks over and over again, then you just haven't learnt enough.

See through the illusions. Then find the courage to change. Understand first the nature of the position, then only can you form a useful plan.

Btw, this blog is dedicated to understanding the position. I do use personal examples from the public arena as they demonstrate the problem clearest. However it is important to understand that it is never personal in nature. So let me clarify here again. Personal means that no matter what that person does I am against him/her. Here I merely show the negative public impact of the actions and words of certain individuals. When their actions are positive I again use those examples to demonstrate the points. Can you see the difference?

Musings

Some of us learn about the Swiss Manager program so that we may get the best out of the system to get the results that shows the true strength of the field in honour of the players hard earned skill and sacrifice. And I guess, some learn the same program to find ways to hide the truth and to give false results.

Some of us teach our young to be honest, civil and law abiding; to train and work hard to achieve their goals and I guess some want to teach them how to write false emails or lure them with false promises of back door entries to misguide them and to teach them gangster ways.

Some of us use ratings to gauge our true strength in chess and I guess some try to cook the numbers to give the illusion of strength.

Some of us try to find the truth and determine the facts so that we have a compass and direction to achieve our goal of developing Malaysia's first GM and I guess some practice very hard at developing factually dishonest arguments to keep their free holidays, illicit power and ill gotten gains.

Now it is my contention that the former should be in the leadership of Malaysian chess and the later in positions of doing the least harm. What would occur if the later was to take the lead? Or have they already?

Change of title from plural to singular.

I see they have gone from fools gone mad to to fool gone mad with the exit of the "Captain" of our chess Olympians. Ref: Here. Good luck to the rest of the team. Anyone of you is better than those 2 fools. Next time get a strong team. You are only as good a team as your weakest links. Luckily for you, one of them pulled about from the trashing by our other juniors. But even with only one fool remaining it is still a big liability.

Musings

When you rob somebody of their money you have but robbed them once. When you have robbed someone of their hopes and dreams, you have robbed them for their lifetime. So be careful what you do.

Some musings on thinking.

Was talking to Mark last night. I told him some things require a lot of thinking. To consider the many aspects that define the problem. For example, like how do we get a GM? How do we construct a proper system of openings etc?

In chess we also say we need to identify and deal with the turning points in a game. Critical decisions.

But some things are obvious and do not need much thinking. Actually you just need to do. So it was a puzzle to me when an MCF official told me at the last National Junior that the solving of my unjust sacking from PICA was an easy problem. Then why hasn't it been solved after all these years???

To me this demonstrates a type of problem in thinking. Easy problems taking years to "solve". But difficult decisions that require thinking is done in a knee jerk manner.

Upside down. Have you seen this in our chess? Rush the difficult problems and sit down and think and think over a simple problem till the time runs out?

Why do you think that is? Could it be fear? If our chess is to improve, we need to understand why this is so, don't you think?

Musings

Authority given must be explicit. The Authority cannot come because the rest are too lazy to have a meeting or someone is blocking a proper meeting to discuss MCF affairs.

That is basic governance. So where is the authority for Peter Long, who is outside of MCF even, to dictate National policy coming from? This is real strange isn't it?

Sunday musings

I find that it is much easier to see where someone else is going wrong than to see where we ourselves are going wrong.

How do you explain colour to a blind man?

Actually how do you explain what confidence is to a man who has never known it before in his life? How do you explain a nurturing environment to someone who has only known conflict? How can you tell someone what light is if he has only known darkness? Only if you have known it, experienced it and lost it will you appreciate what you have lost. And only then can you rejoice when you find it again.

Congratulations Jimmy.

Ref: Here and here.

Bravo! You are the consummate magician. Able to make demons/ghosts/toyols appear and disappear at will. And in broad daylight too! No wonder you have such contempt for the chess community and the juniors. We can all be broken and tricked at will by your amazing mastery.

So what if we dont have proper training, so what if LZR and Sumant is traumatised by your little games. You have lived up to your reputation as the go to guy. You can make players reappear even if they fail selection.

If only all that energy had gone towards improving your chess you might have beaten Fadzil. But then again maybe not. Afterall we are only here to feed your ego.

It doesn't matter if the rest of us is now wondering what is the point of selection if it's only a charade. The really important thing is that the glass ceiling must not be broken.

So now we won't know what it could have been like if the juniors were given proper support and training. Well done again! We can now all sit back and wait to see the results of your machinations at SEA games.

Musings.

You know at Datmo, people were coming to me and telling or asking me about what was happening at the top tables. And I always say I have no clue. It's true. I don't even know who won. Even now.

My focus has always been on what is happening to my players at that moment in time. How are they making decisions? What mistakes are they making? What is their mental state? Which band are they are playing in? What more do they need to cross just one more level?

My belief is that by doing it one step at a time, there will come a day when my players will be at the top tables. Then I can have the luxury of seeing them there and then doing the same all over again. This is simply to ensure that they can stay there.

If you want to beat Singapore......

Tell them to play chess. :)

On Jan 1, 2011 the Malaysian Tigers took the Singaporean Lions in chess for the first time in 10 years. And we can do it again on our home ground at the next outing if we remember this.


If your sunshine wants far outstrip your cold morning desire, have a talk with yourself. Then have a lot more talks with yourself. Convince number one that you can succeed--and you will succeed. If you don't believe in you, why should anyone else?

-- Tom Hopkins

Thursday Musings.

Over the last 8 years I have been challenged many times to a chess duel. Once even by a chess "master" during a simul. He was shouting at a player during the player's turn to move and counting down aloud and flustering the player. I was standing on the side and "marvelling" at the master's chess skills when he looked up and challenged me to play. Why do you think he did that? What is the underlying assumption?

It seems to me that a few people think that only strong chess players can have a say on how/what things are said or done in the chess community. The stronger you are in chess as a player ie the higher your FIDE rating, (whether currently accurate or not), the bigger your say should be.

One or two of them reluctantly give me the credit for bringing up a player who is currently both National U18 and U20 No.2 without myself being a strong chess player but substantially focusing on mental strength instead.

The question today is if you think this underlying assumption is realistic or even helpful. Look around and see how successful organisations are run. Just take a couple of minutes and think on this. Are they making any sense? Is looking at issues from just the players perspective sufficient? Or does it take more skill sets, more different perspectives?

Friday Musings

Part of my talk at the last Thematic was on handling stress. This is what I said. Stress in tournaments are unavoidable. Tournaments are stressful; one of your opponents aim will be to pile on the pressure. Those conditions cannot be changed and are largely beyond your control. What is in your control is your self talk, how you manage your internal stress. At a certain amount of pressure everybody cracks, disassembles. By managing your internal stress you can keep the level of stress from tipping over.

This brings up another point for reflection today. I first presented this argument to the PICA committee. They said I was writing negative things about the organisation, presumably bringing stress to them. So I said this. Do something good and I will write about that. I am not about disparaging PICA. But I will not stay silent if I see fixed matches, unfair practices. Hence the onus here is the other way. We can change those bad practices. And trying to silence people from saying that those practices is wrong is unreasonable and destructive.

So what I am saying is that Officials, Organisers, Parents and bloggers can and should point out the bad practices if there are any. We should not go out looking for them but we should voice out if we see them practiced. For this can be changed.

The players on the other hand cannot do much once they are in the tournament. Change what we can change for the better. Then we can grow and move forward.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Isnt it Jimmy?

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.