A Wish List

Pix 1. Vladimir Kramnik hitting the gong, Tata Steel Chess 2012. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

7 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur - As a local chess enthusiast there are a few things on the wish list that one hopes the local Malaysian chess scene would improve in the near future. Here are a few that could be considered by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) as either one of short-term or long term strategic plan:-

A. A local professional chess circuit offering reasonable cash prizes for the professional local chess player,

B. Chess tournaments offering local players FIDE Ratings for classical, rapid and blitz categories,

C. Training of local would-be arbiters to assist fully the understanding of FIDE Chess laws and rules, so that the country will never be short of potential chess arbiters,

D. Development of high performance chess teams for active duty at regional and international chess events to represent the country in either gender or in which ever age group,

E. to develop a cadre of Malaysian players to Grand Master (GM) level, the highest level that a chess player can aspire to be,

F. To encourage the government to adopt "Chess-in-school" curriculum and encourage it as one of the extra curricular activities of primary, secondary and tertiary level education, similar to other strong chess nations such as Europe and the USA,

G. To form and inculcate a pool of would-be chess tournament sponsors by forming strategic partnerships,

H. To encourage the growth of professionally run chess centers throughout the country, by doing so these centers will provide the necessary chess trainers that budding chess players can fall back for further development,

I. To form a center or a chess magazine that integrates information of local chess tournaments by disseminating the information systematically through the public media like a locally produced chess magazine, at the moment it is still seen as ad-hoc,

J. MCF to have a special publicity committee that focuses in providing public media the necessary information and promotes chess in a healthy manner.

J. Development of a chess career for those deciding to devote chess their whole life from player to trainer to arbiter to tournament organizer to chess magazine publisher to chess sponsors. The whole gamut of chess life.

Many steps may have been taken before but unknown to the mainstream public.

Highlight them in the media and gain the necessary publicity for chess where it is appropriately due.

The wish list may have been implemented partially in some parts but left wanting more by the chess community. What is your dreams for chess?