Disclaimer: I only write this to clear any misunderstandings being perpetuated.
This is a true story that bears resemblance to a certain blogger. OK, you all know him as Raymond Siew. Now I do read his posts just to see what rubbish is the flavor of the month. Normally I ignore the points but there is one that needs to be addressed as I am afraid people might start believing it.
The myth perpetuated is that certain people (Raymond does not name them) trying to tell "the kids" (whoever they are) that ( and I quote ) " they are all washed up by 15yo".Raymond wants you to believe that some people (whoever they are) are "attacking" the kids (again).
There was a quotation from Anand which I believe was first mentioned in a local chess blog by Ilhamudin in his 2010chessodyssey. Subsequently there was some mention of this same quote in one of the chess blog's shoutbox by some anonymous person. Raymond jumped on this and clung on ever since (for the reason , read #8 in my post here)
So the myth(s) -
#1 People are attacking the kids by telling them they are washed up by fifteen years old.
Nobody ever said or meant that kids are washed up by 15 years old. They were just quoting Anand. It is all part of Raymond's poor understanding. Problem is he repeated it so many times, I think he actually believes it himself now.
#2 Anand's quote is "If you are not grandmaster by fifteen, you can forget it". If you understood the background where this quote was taken from, you will know that Anand never meant that you cannot be grandmaster after fifteen. This is just someone's poor comprehension and worse - laziness to do background work. If you read the full interview you will understand the quote better. Let me just re-phrase that quote to show what Anand really was talking about. My addition is in bold .
" Nowadays if you are not grandmaster by fifteen, you can forget about becoming a super grandmaster or world champion"
Clear?
2 comments:
Hi Jimmy,
I have said this before but when I was involved in Singapore chess a few years back, the issue they had was talent development in an environment that no matter what they did in terms of organising and training, players would over time gradually fall behind their peers in more developed chess nations. What do I mean? Well, the reality is, all things being equal, improvement in chess comes from playing and analysing, and the more the better. Of course that assumes the right level of competition, and hard work and right guidance. Our kids also have the time bomb of studies, then computer games and social distractions before finally having to make a living. So when I did the analysis in Singapore, the conclusion was if we did not get players to 2300 by 13 or 14, they had no realistic chance to make IM by 18 with NS coming followed by University. But if they made IM, then perhaps they would continue somehow to become GM? This proved right with a kind of 'golden generation' who got there and I am referring to Daniel Chan, Timothy Chan and Daniel Fernandez but they were also pushed all the way by other like Graham Chua and Terry Chua who did not quite make it and there are others of that generation who are now starting to also make IM norms. I have for example been coaching Roshan for over a year now and who cares if he is U-14 and now U-16 champion is he is probably 2000-2100 strength. This year he has serious exams and will lose a lot of time so he has just next year to get past 2200 and if achieves that at 16 it will take a special dedication through his college years to become an IM. So what more the many others not with this level of achievement? Of the players who went to Turkey last year for the World U-16 Olympiad, it is going to be tough for Yeap Eng Cheam and Wong Jian Wen. The former is 2200 level and the latter 2100 so are on a slightly worser track than Roshan assuming he makes further progress. Elgin Lee if he commits a solid year to chess in Europe after his exams with a trainer will make the jump to join them. But again you have to look to Yeoh Li Tian at 2200 to become 2300 at the same age as Daniel Chan and then to go on to make IM at 16 and then hopefully GM by 21.
Now I know that Malaysia Chess has a DRAMA KING who blows up incorrect facts, and using negative words to dramatize events
The same thing with the issue of Mas "throwing" his game at the Olympiad.
Maybe he needs an English language coach :) And we need to encourage him to use more "positive" and "nicer" words.... For a mind coach that uses too much of negativity, its kind of a contrast isn't it?
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