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With all the hoopla surrounding the success of Qiyu Zhou at the WYCC, there is a whole other group that has so far been ignored here on ChessTalk. I would have expected the CFC President to have done this, but since he hasn't (probably because like everyone else, his priorities lie with the winners), I'll do it for him:
Congratulations to all the Canadian kids who played in the WYCC in Durban, South Africa and did NOT win medals nor prizes, and to their parents. Your initiative, effort and perseverance should be honored irregardless of the results. By congratulating all of you on equal terms with those who did win prizes, we show you that we value you and your efforts equally in the true spirit of competition, and that your results do not diminish you in any way in our view. Good luck and continue to work hard and improve in all your future endeavours, both within chess and beyond chess.
I do this because these are children still in their formative years. It's hard enough to cope with losing without having to see a teammate getting so much attention for winning. Everyone who signed on to the congratulations of Qiyu should sign on to this as well.
And you should reflect on this also: Qiyu's success is not reflective of Canada or of the Canadian government (lol, let's notify the Prime Minister!). It is reflective on her personal support group (family) and her own character and willingness to persevere in the face of trials and tribulations (past failures). This is rare in chess, because chess is a pure skill game and failure can undermine the psyche in young children. Qiyu overcame that, to her credit, but you should reflect on the many, many more who do NOT overcome that and not only leave chess, but leave with their psyche and feeling of self-worth damaged. Chess is unique among games in this respect: it is highly dangerous to the ego, particularly for young children and particularly when so much emphasis is put on winning. Some can handle failure and move on to other endeavors, but some cannot without help and support. This is the downside of the CFC emphasis on winning and the new Drkulec-inspired emphasis on children. You hear about all the successes, but you don't hear about the failures and what they can lead to.
On a side note, the Wordpress blog that John Upper provided a link to,
http://qiyuzhou.wordpress.com/
has this interesting bit written by her mother:
"She complained that chess is not as fun as before. When she was young, she thought that chess was such an easy and fun game, but not now. I mentioned that she complained that if she knew that playing chess needs to memorize and study so many openings, she would not have started at the very beginning."
Exactly what I've been posting for a few years now about standard chess: too much memorization. With this new emphasis on children in the CFC business model, there will be a fallout when they reach the age at which they realize what's really involved in chess mastery: almost no creativity and inspiration, and rote memorization of openings sometimes beyond 20 moves, not to mention endgames. And draws.... lots of draws!
Kevin Pacey has been disagreeing that this opening memorization aspect is so strong. Kevin, there it is right from Qiyu Zhou herself. Too much memorization! I'm sure Qiyu's WYCC win will rejunevate her interest, but what about the many others?
And will the CFC or even FIDE itself perhaps adapt and start offering chess960 to get rid of some of the memorization? Not on your life. Status quo, baby!
Congratulations to all the Canadian kids who played in the WYCC in Durban, South Africa and did NOT win medals nor prizes, and to their parents. Your initiative, effort and perseverance should be honored irregardless of the results. By congratulating all of you on equal terms with those who did win prizes, we show you that we value you and your efforts equally in the true spirit of competition, and that your results do not diminish you in any way in our view. Good luck and continue to work hard and improve in all your future endeavours, both within chess and beyond chess.
I do this because these are children still in their formative years. It's hard enough to cope with losing without having to see a teammate getting so much attention for winning. Everyone who signed on to the congratulations of Qiyu should sign on to this as well.
And you should reflect on this also: Qiyu's success is not reflective of Canada or of the Canadian government (lol, let's notify the Prime Minister!). It is reflective on her personal support group (family) and her own character and willingness to persevere in the face of trials and tribulations (past failures). This is rare in chess, because chess is a pure skill game and failure can undermine the psyche in young children. Qiyu overcame that, to her credit, but you should reflect on the many, many more who do NOT overcome that and not only leave chess, but leave with their psyche and feeling of self-worth damaged. Chess is unique among games in this respect: it is highly dangerous to the ego, particularly for young children and particularly when so much emphasis is put on winning. Some can handle failure and move on to other endeavors, but some cannot without help and support. This is the downside of the CFC emphasis on winning and the new Drkulec-inspired emphasis on children. You hear about all the successes, but you don't hear about the failures and what they can lead to.
On a side note, the Wordpress blog that John Upper provided a link to,
http://qiyuzhou.wordpress.com/
has this interesting bit written by her mother:
"She complained that chess is not as fun as before. When she was young, she thought that chess was such an easy and fun game, but not now. I mentioned that she complained that if she knew that playing chess needs to memorize and study so many openings, she would not have started at the very beginning."
Exactly what I've been posting for a few years now about standard chess: too much memorization. With this new emphasis on children in the CFC business model, there will be a fallout when they reach the age at which they realize what's really involved in chess mastery: almost no creativity and inspiration, and rote memorization of openings sometimes beyond 20 moves, not to mention endgames. And draws.... lots of draws!
Kevin Pacey has been disagreeing that this opening memorization aspect is so strong. Kevin, there it is right from Qiyu Zhou herself. Too much memorization! I'm sure Qiyu's WYCC win will rejunevate her interest, but what about the many others?
And will the CFC or even FIDE itself perhaps adapt and start offering chess960 to get rid of some of the memorization? Not on your life. Status quo, baby!
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