FRANÇOIS de la Rochefoucauld, a 17th century French classical author, once remarked that the only constant in life is change. That applies to chess, too.
It has evolved from a simple game enjoyed by the kings of India and Persia to the complex and demanding version 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 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, however, 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 organisation hopes to duplicate the success of their Singapore counterpart by bringing in qualified foreign chess coaches for short stints here. A few of these foreign coaches have been conducting chess clinics around the Klang Valley and Penang.
Unless our local chess coaches can evolve and change, organisations such as the Asean Chess Academy Malaysia are set to become the dominant player. Here’s why.
Fide, the World Chess Federation, has been showing interest in the Asean Chess Academy in Singapore 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 organisational structure; 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 recognised by Fide.
In recent years, Fide has 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 1,400 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 of two years’ experience as a DI and a minimum Fide rating of 1,600. 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 1,600. Next comes the Fide Instructor (FI); he/ she must have a minimum of two years’ experience as a NI and a minimum Fide rating of 1,800. FIs are allowed to conduct courses for DIs and NIs, and train players with Fide ratings up to 1,800. Progressively, there is the 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.
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 gaining the proper credentials from Fide.
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Quah Seng Sun has been writing a fortnightly chess column for The Star, Malaysia’s leading English language newspaper, since 1980. This article first appeared on 22 Dec 2006.