Much has been said about the Training System, or may I say, the lack of it (maybe no system at all) for our chess players, specially the budding ones. Well meaning titled chess players would say their views on these matters and I can say that they really are sincerely concerned about this.
One even dared say that the only qualified to put on the cap as Chief of Chess Development and Training in the land is GM Eugene Torre. But sadly, he prefers to play professionaly and for the flag, thus taking one slot away from a qualified youngster.
On the other hand, there is this call to hire a foreign chess trainer/coach that will train players and chess coaches alike. Again, this has not been listened to. So many views, good and bad, but all we do is talk, and maybe write about it...
Anyways, here is something from The Weekender about the issue at hand:
FROM MY SWIVEL CHAIR
Taking a leaf from China Experience
I WON’T be surprised that China will be a top contender for medals in almost all sports when it hosts the Olympics next year. Beijing has been preparing for global sports dominance over the past two decades, since Deng Xiaoping widened the democratic space in the world’s most populous nation (over 1.6 billion) by embracing market economics in what was once a Marxist-Maoist bastion.
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UNLIKE Mao Zedong who was strictly a Marxist ideologue in the Chinese mould, Deng proved to be more flexible, thereby earning the derisive tag from his comrades of being a “capitalist middle-roader.” A pragmatist, Deng saw the possibility of melding capitalist methods with the communist power structure.
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WHAT pushed Deng into espousing semi-capitalistic ways of improving China’s lot was the Cultural Revolution from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies. This was the period when the so-called Gang of Four led by Mao’s widow, Jiang Qing, unleashed so-called Red Guard brigades all over China’s countryside to whip into line the hordes of Chinese peasants with all sorts of abuse and intimidation.
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DENG and his family were themselves victims of abuse by the Red Guards. It is said that his son was tortured and then thrown out of an upper-floor window to the ground below, making him wheelchair-bound for life. This made the elder Deng the rallying point for overthrowing the Gang of Four.
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WHY am I recalling all this? It is because I’d like to stress how the Chinese not too long ago suffered, in the same way that we suffered under martial law. But look at where China is now: a political and socioeconomic superpower that is determined to give its people a higher quality of life and to make them true champions in every sense of the word and in every aspect of modern life and living.
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HOW did the Chinese develop champions in chess and other sports? By dint of hard work and proper training methods. In chess, for instance, they learned from their neighbors, the Russians. They even imported top coaches and trainers of champions so as to learn what made them tick.
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WHY don’t we send our best trainers abroad to Fide-organized seminars? We don’t have to send many. Perhaps one representative—the best and brightest of the lot—will do. He or she can then train the others here. It does not follow that a good player can be a good trainer. But excellent trainers can develop excellent players.
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THE best empirical evidence of this truism is the case of boxing idol Manny Pacquiao. Before he came under the wing of Freddie Roach, the Pacman was a good boxer and even became a world champion. But he was never as good as he is now as “Fighter of the Year,” after receiving excellent training from Roach.
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YESTERDAY was the 77th birthday of Quezon City Parks Development Foundation President Charito Planas. She celebrated it by working harder than usual all day. Happy birthday, ma’am!
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No news yet about the results of the 1st and 2nd rounds of the on going NCFP National Age Group Championship happening at Kalentong, Mandaluyong City.
Till' then!
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