Tuesday, August 2, 2011
NJ Dec. 2010 revisted: The heart of a Champion.
Some of you may be wondering why I say the National Junior is the best determinant for the strongest junior player. Very few players will get to experience what it is like to fight for the National Junior title. So let me tell you first hand what it was like from my perspective as manager, coach and father of Mark Siew.
National Junior was just 5 days after SPM. And so Mark had to split his time between his studies and still do a little chess on the side. After the exams he had only a few days to prepare. And that we did. With the short time remaining we came up with a simple strategy. Keep his opponents in the middle game. And so we worked on that.
At the National Junior itself, Mark found that he was losing every opening fight. So he went back to his lessons of keeping his mind strong and his concentration intact. With that tremendous effort he found himself the front runner right until the last round when he lost to Syakir.
That meant a play off with 5 players having the same points. Lim Zhuo Ren, Wong Jianwen, Syakir, Sumant and Mark.
By this time the boys had already played 5 gruelling days of chess. And they were all exhausted. Some more than others; depending on their run.
The play off consisted of a double round robin rapid. Players playing both white and black. And if the results were not conclusive then armageddon, a blitz with white having 5 minutes and black 4 minutes. White to win.
The play off didn't end till around 10pm that night. In the interim, there were some confusion over the rules, after the play off had started. The chief arbiter Najib Wahab was not clear with the other arbiters and he had left the scene. Just so you can understand what the fight was like, I asked Mark to take a short rest while the arbiters were sorting themselves out. I still remember vividly what he said to me. He said, "dad if I close my eyes now, I wont wake up". He was past the point of exhaustion.
Another thing. During the play off, Sumant was playing Mark and Sumant won. He offered Mark the win because Sumant didn't have a chance in the running anymore. To his credit, Mark declined the win and they submitted the correct results.
Finally, a new National Junior Master was crowned and Lim Zhuo Ren lifted that title.
All the boys fought like true Malaysian tigers that day. As a father and coach I was proud of of them all. In that one day I saw the boys grow up into men. Men worthy of respect. They didn't take the shortcuts.
Now that you have a glimpse of what it takes, I will tell you what it's all about in my next post.
Ref: Here.
National Junior was just 5 days after SPM. And so Mark had to split his time between his studies and still do a little chess on the side. After the exams he had only a few days to prepare. And that we did. With the short time remaining we came up with a simple strategy. Keep his opponents in the middle game. And so we worked on that.
At the National Junior itself, Mark found that he was losing every opening fight. So he went back to his lessons of keeping his mind strong and his concentration intact. With that tremendous effort he found himself the front runner right until the last round when he lost to Syakir.
That meant a play off with 5 players having the same points. Lim Zhuo Ren, Wong Jianwen, Syakir, Sumant and Mark.
By this time the boys had already played 5 gruelling days of chess. And they were all exhausted. Some more than others; depending on their run.
The play off consisted of a double round robin rapid. Players playing both white and black. And if the results were not conclusive then armageddon, a blitz with white having 5 minutes and black 4 minutes. White to win.
The play off didn't end till around 10pm that night. In the interim, there were some confusion over the rules, after the play off had started. The chief arbiter Najib Wahab was not clear with the other arbiters and he had left the scene. Just so you can understand what the fight was like, I asked Mark to take a short rest while the arbiters were sorting themselves out. I still remember vividly what he said to me. He said, "dad if I close my eyes now, I wont wake up". He was past the point of exhaustion.
Another thing. During the play off, Sumant was playing Mark and Sumant won. He offered Mark the win because Sumant didn't have a chance in the running anymore. To his credit, Mark declined the win and they submitted the correct results.
Finally, a new National Junior Master was crowned and Lim Zhuo Ren lifted that title.
All the boys fought like true Malaysian tigers that day. As a father and coach I was proud of of them all. In that one day I saw the boys grow up into men. Men worthy of respect. They didn't take the shortcuts.
Now that you have a glimpse of what it takes, I will tell you what it's all about in my next post.
Ref: Here.
Today's Contemplation.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life...Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
-- Steve Jobs, Founder, Apple Computers
-- Steve Jobs, Founder, Apple Computers
Yeap Eng Chiam vs Yeoh Li Tian.
Eng Chiam vs Li Tian. Now that's a game I would like to see too.
Ref: Jimmy trying to Jedi mind trick us again. Here.
What Jimmy and friends fail to understand is that the entire chess community has voted. And we have voted to have SELECTION. No more handpicked players.
He also fails to understand that since he has now won the right to play at SEA games, every Malaysian chess player will cheer the team going even though it now has one IM less. That would not be the case if he had gone in from the back door. The chess community understands healthy competition.
Ratings are only accurate when it is current. And even then it is not a measure of fighting strength.
We are tired of Jimmy and friends telling us who they think the strongest junior is; how strong our IM's are. Your views are irrelevant. We want to see a good clean fight. And National Junior is the place for us to find that junior. Every junior has the right to fight for that honour and we want to see for ourselves in a clear selection process. So forget the side shows.
What Jimmy fails to see is that we are already the majority and he and his few friends are left in past. We all stood up to be counted at the selection call. We voted with our feet and money when we made this year's National Close the strongest and biggest ever. So stop trying your tricks Jimmy. Go back and play real chess. And we'll see what your true rating is.
Selection is the way forward and this is now the new reality. So deal with it Jimmy and friends.
Ref: Jimmy trying to Jedi mind trick us again. Here.
What Jimmy and friends fail to understand is that the entire chess community has voted. And we have voted to have SELECTION. No more handpicked players.
He also fails to understand that since he has now won the right to play at SEA games, every Malaysian chess player will cheer the team going even though it now has one IM less. That would not be the case if he had gone in from the back door. The chess community understands healthy competition.
Ratings are only accurate when it is current. And even then it is not a measure of fighting strength.
We are tired of Jimmy and friends telling us who they think the strongest junior is; how strong our IM's are. Your views are irrelevant. We want to see a good clean fight. And National Junior is the place for us to find that junior. Every junior has the right to fight for that honour and we want to see for ourselves in a clear selection process. So forget the side shows.
What Jimmy fails to see is that we are already the majority and he and his few friends are left in past. We all stood up to be counted at the selection call. We voted with our feet and money when we made this year's National Close the strongest and biggest ever. So stop trying your tricks Jimmy. Go back and play real chess. And we'll see what your true rating is.
Selection is the way forward and this is now the new reality. So deal with it Jimmy and friends.
Monday, August 1, 2011
NM Lim Zhuo Ren at world juniors.
Zhuo Ren is our only rep there. Here. All Malaysian chess players are rooting for you Zhuo Ren. Play your heart out.
All my best.
All my best.
Reply to how strong is strong?
Ref: Here.
I believe that is what we all want to know. How would our boys and girls fare without interference from outside forces. That was why we asked for the selection criteria. In the SEA games selection we saw an IM fall to almost all if not all the juniors. So FIDE ratings don't mean much. Nor beating an IM or a GM on their way down.
I wont argue about Mark's performance at the last Malaysian Open. Actually he did very well if you really care to check. The point is he is still U18 and U20 number 2. And I hope even you won't say that was a fluke.
I agree with you that the Juniors can improve very fast but I wouldn't use you as a yardstick. I would use Asean, Asian Youth and even World Juniors as yardsticks. The Juniors are fighting in today's chess.
That is why FGM took a lot of pains to make sure that the GM we selected is still in the fight today. Today's world is very different Jimmy.
I think this year's National Juniors will be interesting. The technical gaps are almost closed. A way to see an even better fight is to limit it to only National Juniors. That's just a suggestion. It will be up to MCF.
An aside: Actually we did discuss an anomaly we found during Asian Youth. The 2100's, 2200's and 2300's there were of a completely different playing strength to the ones we experienced in the Malaysian Open. One Junior commented that those Juniors we fought were on their way up and so the ratings didn't reflect their true fighting strength. That is why I don't think Malaysia Open is a good measure. We need to benchmark against our peers and in today's world.
Note: Li Tian was at the last National Junior but he didn't shine. Can we now discount him? I don't think so. One glitch does not discount him. He is still a very talented junior. It will be our honour to fight him on a level field. And I wish him well. May the better chess player prevail. But I will not take any hanky panky lying down. I think you know that Jimmy.
That was what happened in Perak. We don't want to see the same thing on a National scale.
So since the ratings are not altogether reliable for many other reasons as well, like number of tournaments played etc., the best test to find the strongest junior is still the National Juniors of which Mark is currently number 2. And that my friend is still the reality.
I believe that is what we all want to know. How would our boys and girls fare without interference from outside forces. That was why we asked for the selection criteria. In the SEA games selection we saw an IM fall to almost all if not all the juniors. So FIDE ratings don't mean much. Nor beating an IM or a GM on their way down.
I wont argue about Mark's performance at the last Malaysian Open. Actually he did very well if you really care to check. The point is he is still U18 and U20 number 2. And I hope even you won't say that was a fluke.
I agree with you that the Juniors can improve very fast but I wouldn't use you as a yardstick. I would use Asean, Asian Youth and even World Juniors as yardsticks. The Juniors are fighting in today's chess.
That is why FGM took a lot of pains to make sure that the GM we selected is still in the fight today. Today's world is very different Jimmy.
I think this year's National Juniors will be interesting. The technical gaps are almost closed. A way to see an even better fight is to limit it to only National Juniors. That's just a suggestion. It will be up to MCF.
An aside: Actually we did discuss an anomaly we found during Asian Youth. The 2100's, 2200's and 2300's there were of a completely different playing strength to the ones we experienced in the Malaysian Open. One Junior commented that those Juniors we fought were on their way up and so the ratings didn't reflect their true fighting strength. That is why I don't think Malaysia Open is a good measure. We need to benchmark against our peers and in today's world.
Note: Li Tian was at the last National Junior but he didn't shine. Can we now discount him? I don't think so. One glitch does not discount him. He is still a very talented junior. It will be our honour to fight him on a level field. And I wish him well. May the better chess player prevail. But I will not take any hanky panky lying down. I think you know that Jimmy.
That was what happened in Perak. We don't want to see the same thing on a National scale.
So since the ratings are not altogether reliable for many other reasons as well, like number of tournaments played etc., the best test to find the strongest junior is still the National Juniors of which Mark is currently number 2. And that my friend is still the reality.
Yeoh Li Tian vs Mark Siew.
Is Li Tian that strong? Aren't you curious? His tauted strength was seen from the last Malaysia Open, private tournaments. We dont get to meet him. He plays in the age groups in a different category. In the last National Junior Li Tian didn't make it to the play offs.
Actually I was hoping that Mark would meet Li Tian at the last National Junior but that didn't happen. Instead he met Lim Zhuo Ren and Mark beat him. Lim Zhuo Ren is the current National Junior Master as well as the current National Master.
I didnt think Mark was ready to lift the National Junior title at that time. He was too far behind on his technical development. I was surprised that Mark even got as far as he did. He was losing every opening fight but fought back from just sheer grit.
I hoped Mark would meet Li Tian not because I thought Mark was stronger than him last year in December but to get a measure. A measure so we can get to take the fight to him on the table this year. This coming National Junior.
So since last month, I got him a GM to bring his technical skills up to par.
Every parent thinks his child is good. We are all biased to some extent. We don't really know who is better. So we congratulate each other's child for any achievement they accomplish. All we hope for is a fair fight, a level field. That has been the unspoken agreement among parents of National Juniors. We have all paid our dues. Does that agreement still hold?
We do not begrudge the sponsorships any one parent can get. That is just the way things are and we have learned to live with it. But let us at least use the chessboard to determine the outcome of who is better. With fair rules.
Would you like to see a fair fight between Lim Zhuo Ren, Sumant, Nabil, Syakir, Mark Siew and Yeoh Li Tian? And who knows? In a fair fight maybe someone else will come and blow them all away. Isnt that the way forward? Isnt that what chess is all about?
So will it be Yeoh Li Tian vs Mark Siew this National Junior? Or will it be none of the above? Will we see the chance of a Perakian holding the National Junior Master title and the chance of a Perakian being National Master again or will other intervening factors come into play?
Note: The Malaysian Open and private tournaments are not the best determinants. I think the best tournament to find the strongest junior is the National Junior since all the juniors will be fighting one another in that one tournament.
Actually I was hoping that Mark would meet Li Tian at the last National Junior but that didn't happen. Instead he met Lim Zhuo Ren and Mark beat him. Lim Zhuo Ren is the current National Junior Master as well as the current National Master.
I didnt think Mark was ready to lift the National Junior title at that time. He was too far behind on his technical development. I was surprised that Mark even got as far as he did. He was losing every opening fight but fought back from just sheer grit.
I hoped Mark would meet Li Tian not because I thought Mark was stronger than him last year in December but to get a measure. A measure so we can get to take the fight to him on the table this year. This coming National Junior.
So since last month, I got him a GM to bring his technical skills up to par.
Every parent thinks his child is good. We are all biased to some extent. We don't really know who is better. So we congratulate each other's child for any achievement they accomplish. All we hope for is a fair fight, a level field. That has been the unspoken agreement among parents of National Juniors. We have all paid our dues. Does that agreement still hold?
We do not begrudge the sponsorships any one parent can get. That is just the way things are and we have learned to live with it. But let us at least use the chessboard to determine the outcome of who is better. With fair rules.
Would you like to see a fair fight between Lim Zhuo Ren, Sumant, Nabil, Syakir, Mark Siew and Yeoh Li Tian? And who knows? In a fair fight maybe someone else will come and blow them all away. Isnt that the way forward? Isnt that what chess is all about?
So will it be Yeoh Li Tian vs Mark Siew this National Junior? Or will it be none of the above? Will we see the chance of a Perakian holding the National Junior Master title and the chance of a Perakian being National Master again or will other intervening factors come into play?
Note: The Malaysian Open and private tournaments are not the best determinants. I think the best tournament to find the strongest junior is the National Junior since all the juniors will be fighting one another in that one tournament.
Chess in the dark ages
A democracy is supposed to free the forces of productivity, of innovation. In a democracy even the government's powers are circumscribed, even the powers of the prime minister is circumscribed. In a democracy your individual rights are protected if you do not break the rules. In a democracy you are allowed to conduct your legitimate business free from harassment, free from attacks, from slander and lies.
Let me go back to the first time I met Peter in the first KL Open. He attacked and shouted at the parent of a National Junior. And he attacked another player/trainer. And I was witness to these events. Now he wants the power of the Gods. He wants carte blanche.
In Malaysian chess we witness the arbitrary sacking of an official. We witness the records of a Perak player (10 years back) who made it to the National squad expunged etc. etc..
In a democracy, our contributions big or small should be accurately recorded. Nothing should be added and nothing deleted.
And so now we look to MCF to right the wrongs. This is our democratic right. And as you know we need our institutions to work or this cannot be achieved.
An aside: I am curious. I have noticed that there are some among us who are a lot more vocal about "bersih" than I am and yet choose to stay silent on these issues. It is much easier to shout on the sidelines than when it is in our homes, our community.
We wont have that GM if we continue to allow tyranny to rule chess. Lets get Malaysian chess out of the dark ages. Amen.
Let me go back to the first time I met Peter in the first KL Open. He attacked and shouted at the parent of a National Junior. And he attacked another player/trainer. And I was witness to these events. Now he wants the power of the Gods. He wants carte blanche.
In Malaysian chess we witness the arbitrary sacking of an official. We witness the records of a Perak player (10 years back) who made it to the National squad expunged etc. etc..
In a democracy, our contributions big or small should be accurately recorded. Nothing should be added and nothing deleted.
And so now we look to MCF to right the wrongs. This is our democratic right. And as you know we need our institutions to work or this cannot be achieved.
An aside: I am curious. I have noticed that there are some among us who are a lot more vocal about "bersih" than I am and yet choose to stay silent on these issues. It is much easier to shout on the sidelines than when it is in our homes, our community.
We wont have that GM if we continue to allow tyranny to rule chess. Lets get Malaysian chess out of the dark ages. Amen.
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