Chess coaches facing challenges

FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, a 17th Century French classical author, once remarked that the only constant in life is change. Let me add here that change, too, affects chess.

Through chess history, we know how the face of chess has been changing. For instance, it evolved from a simple game enjoyed by the kings of India and Persia to the complex and demanding one that is played today throughout the world.

Likewise in chess coaching, change is inevitable. 

For far too long, chess coaching in Malaysia has been in the hands of a few independent local chess coaches, each with their different styles of coaching techniques. 

It is a very fragmented market but paradoxically, the fragmentation is the reason why many of the chess coaches continue to make a decent enough living. Somehow, because of the keen competition among themselves, they have managed to create a niche market for themselves.

All this is changing with the coming of a new player in the local coaching scene. The time-tested formula used in Singapore is now available in Malaysia under the guise of the Asean Chess Academy Malaysia.

This chess coaching organization will be duplicating the success of their Singapore counterpart by bringing in qualified foreign chess coaches for short stints here. 

If you have been reading this column for the past month or so, or following the discussions in the chess-malaysia mailing list, you may already released that a few of these foreign coaches had been conducting chess clinics around the Klang Valley and Penang.

Whether this entity will prove to be successful in the long term remains to be seen but from my discussions with various people, our local chess coaches are now threatened with marginalization. Unless they can evolve and change, organizations such as the Asean Chess Academy Malaysia are set to become the dominant player.

I’ll tell you why. 

Fide, the World Chess Federation, has been showing interest in the Asean Chess Academy in Singapore itself and a person no less than the Fide general secretary, Ignatius Leong, has been tasked to look into the possibility of duplicating the Academy’s set-up around the world. 

It’s no wonder then, that the Asean Chess Academy should be looking at its nearest neighbour, Malaysia, as the starting point.

When I spoke to Leong recently, he said that many top officials from Fide had visited the Academy in Singapore to study its organization structure and even a Russian visitor had remarked that Russia could now do no better. The old Soviet School of Chess is practically non-existent.

If the Asean Chess Academy can be duplicated around the world, the one group of people that will benefit most from this will be the qualified chess trainers and instructors who are recognized by Fide

In recent years, Fide had been quietly trying to get chess coaches and trainers to register themselves with the world body. Several designations or titles have been introduced. 

At the most basic level, the Developmental Instructor (DI) must know the rules of chess and have a Fide rating of at least 1400 points. Their scope is to provide simple instructions to beginners and people new to chess.

Then comes the National Instructor (NI) who is required to have a minimum two years of experience as a DI and a minimum Fide rating of 1600. The NI must also have finished within the top 10 in their national-level chess competitions. Nis are eligible to train players with Fide ratings of up to 1600.

The Fide Instructor (FI) title comes next and the person must have a minimum two years of experience as a NI and a minimum Fide rating of 1800. The are allowed to conduct courses for Dis and Nis, as well as train players with Fide ratings up to 1800.

Progressively, Fide has also the titles of Fide Trainer (FT) and Fide Senior Trainer (FST). Qualification to these titles are even more stringent and holders of these titles are required to know at least one Fide language.

So, this is the change that is coming. In the next few years, I foresee parents starting to ask whether the chess coaches will have the necessary qualifications. Playing experience will no longer be enough. There will be a lot of challenges facing the local coaches and they will lose out until they take the most obvious step to gain the proper credentials from Fide. 

UP NEXT

USM (Engineering Campus) open

The Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Engineering will organise their first chess tournament at their Engineering Campus in Nibong Tebal tomorrow.

The entry fees are: RM10 for members of the USM (engineering campus) chess club, RM15 for other USM students, RM10 for members of the Penang Chess Association (PCA) aged below 18. RM15 for adult PCA members and non-members below 18 and RM20 for others. 

With entries will close today, anyone interested should immediately contact Chin Chee Boon (tel: 017.4879028), Cheah Wee Keat (tel: 012.4124824), Ong Yee Chien (tel; 017.7521032) or Chan Chee Weng (tel: 012.3640978).

Clearwater Sanctuary open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise the Clearwater Sanctuary chess tournament at the Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort in Batu Gajah, Perak this Sunday.  

Entry fees are RM10 for players under 12 years old, ladies and PICA members, and RM15 for all other players. For details, contact Yunus (tel: 013.3908129) or Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).