New lease of life

 

We need training

 IT WAS not a very pleasant Christmas for Malaysian chess. Down across the causeway where our southern neighbour was hosting last year’s annual match between the two countries, Malaysia was once again bleeding.

Despite not fielding their best line-ups, our Singapore host proved that they were once again the better of the two sides. 

This year, the score stood at 89.5-50.5. The match was played over two matches with 70 boards per match, encompassing the full spectrum of ages from veterans to under-eight year olds. 

I really cannot recall the last time that Malaysia had beaten Singapore in this annually arranged chess match that is hosted in alternative years by the Malaysian Chess Federation and the Singapore Chess Federation. It must have been at least four or five years ago. 

But I do remember writing here five years ago, when we were still regularly on top of the Singaporeans, that we were getting much too smug with our successes. Based on the results in several junior-level chess events in the Asean region, I could see that we were slowly but surely being overtaken by the Singaporean junior players.

The main reason for the Singaporean success with their juniors is their decision to commercialise their chess training. Treat it like a business and bring in chess trainers to train the young. Not any chess trainer, mind you, but strong competent ones who play chess competitively and professionally.

So that is why you see registered business units like the Singapore Chess Academy who employed and brought into Singapore grandmasters and international masters from neighbouring Philippines, Vietnam and elsewhere. 

Once the parents saw that this business of chess coaching was being done seriously and with the results to show, they did not mind paying to provide their children with the best chess coaches.

Now, my questions for Malaysian chess are: are we prepared to be serious with our training? Are we prepared to bring in the professional trainers from overseas? Are we prepared to pay good money for good results? In short, are we prepared to emulate the Singaporeans? 

It is said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Addressing this problem of a slow chess progress among our youths will not be achieved overnight. It is a long-term process and unless we are ready to begin now, it looks very unlikely that we can reverse the trend in the annual chess match within the next five years. They shall continue to show us their hospitality and then wallop us over the board.

If we are prepared to take the first step to commercialise the chess training process and treat it as a business, this must be done outside the Malaysian Chess Federation by people who are full-time into chess training and possess the business acumen and determination to succeed.

By separating chess administration which is voluntary and commercialised chess training, I believe this is the right way to move forward for Malaysian chess. 

As usual, after this latest debacle, there were a lot of soul-searching on our part. A lot was said in the chess-malaysia mailing list but unfortunately, I saw no one grasping the root of the problem. But there was a particular email commenting on the quality of our local coaches that caught my eye and it would seem appropriate to produce it here.

In Anthony Liong’s view, he identified six groups of local chess trainers. Firstly, those rated less than 1975 whom he deemed as amateurs. Secondly, those rated 1976 to 2050 are also not good enough as coaches because some are giving the wrong advice. 

Thirdly, those rated 2051 to 2299 are able to give lessons but they are still not good enough in terms of coaching experience. Next, those with ratings of above 2300 are qualified to coach players but they charge a fee equivalent to their standard.

Then there are the unrated players who play like rated players. They can coach young children well but that is the extent of their abilities. Some would just give tactical positions for the kids to ponder over for half an hour. “Pity the kid,” he wrote, adding that they could just as easily learn from any chess software with more than 20,000 positions.

Finally, there are the unrated players who play like unrated players and yet are coaching. This group, he said, was just like crabs teaching baby crabs to walk straight. 

I could not help smiling reading about what he wrote but you do get the picture of what he wanted to say. It was close enough.

UP NEXT

Pesta catur USM 

The 12th Universiti Sains Malaysia chess festival kicks off next year with an eight-round individual tournament on Jan 14-15 and a seven-round team tournament on Jan 21-22. 

There will be eight main cash prizes on offer for each event and a long list of consolation prizes. The winner of the individual tournament will get RM250, while the winning team will receive RM500.

Entry fees for the individual event are RM10 for under-12 players, RM12 for under-18 players, RM14 for university and college players and RM20 for others. Members of the Penang Chess Association will be charged RM8, RM10, RM12 and RM15 respectively.

For the team event, entry fees are RM40 for under-12 teams, RM50 for university and school teams, RM65 for family teams and RM80 for all other teams.

Details: Ooi Chee Khoon (012.4287262), Chan Jun Jie (012.6150071), Lam Siew Zi (012.5344202) or Lim Kah Bee (012.4485546).