Peter Long on Chess

I have noticed with some perplexity some of what various parties have been saying about the composition of the Malaysian Team to the World Chess Olympiad and summarising the key points of discussion, here too is my two cents worth!1. Our No 1 player Mas Hafizulhelmi declining participation! That to me was the biggest shock as not so long ago he had turned professional and it still makes no sense to me notwithstanding well informed parties citing family matters, all of which he really should have calculated before taking the huge step to quit his job. Well, he will most certainly overcome this challenge in time!2. The curious case of Mok Tze Meng. A lot of the fire in Mok seemed to me to have been lost after he achieved his long dream of becoming an IM (even if for short period he seemed to have made a stab at trying for a GM norm) and soon enough this highly successful businessman was busy instead qualifying to become a FIDE Arbiter. And yet he still wants very much to remain a perman…

The type of event that seems to make sense to most of the local chess community and which has been made possible by Malaysian Chess Federation Deputy President Zuhri Abdullah. Let’s hope for a big turnout from schools and corporations and of course we can expect the usual high turnout by teams made up largely by the Filipino chess trainers based in Singapore hungry for chess that is largely unavailable to them there.What follows is extracted from the prospectus:1. OBJECTIVETo organize the biggest chess team event in Malaysia & to develop a chess community that is united, morally upright and progressive in the social and economic context as well as to develop a chess player that adopts a healthy sports culture, and thereby contribute effectively, towards the nation`s unity and development. WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE TEAMS REFLECTING A TRUE MALAYSIA SPIRIT
2. REGULATIONSTeam event only and open to all. 4 players per team only & the total average rating of the team to be not more than …