Vietnamese Redux

It seems the Vietnamese chess community has something of a battle going on regarding state funding of promising (versus "already there") chessplayers. What is it to be? Funding many promising young players at a low rate of support every month, or funding fewer, more mature players with higher ELOs at a higher rate of support every month? Is the immediate controversy at all related to the relatively poor showing of the Vietnamese Women in the recently concluded First World Women’s Team Chess Championship? Unfortunately, no. That event wasn’t mentioned in the article – and perhaps the author doesn’t give a rap about women’s chess in Vietnam. All the players the article mentions are males: GM Le Quang Liem: 2541 (born 1991) GM Dao Thien Hai: 2543 (born 1978) GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son: 2542 (born 1990) GM Nguyen Ahn Dung: 2528 (born 1976) GM Tu Hoang Thong: 2472 (born 1972) Tran Duc Hoa Khanh: 2183 (born 1974) Here is the article: Investing in sports talents needs thorough change 14:21' 03/06/2007 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – Chess player Le Quang Liem is a rare talent but the total State investment in this great master is only VND43 million ($3,000) a year or only VND3.5 million ($215) a month – too little for a great talent. Le Quang Liem is the first player who has held all three national championships for traditional, rapid and blitz chess tournaments within a given year, according to Vice Chairman of the HCM City Chess Federation Nguyen Phuoc Trung. Mr Trung also said that in early July, when the World Chess Confederation (FIDE) announced the Elo and the new rankings for chess players worldwide, Liem had passed Thien Hai and Truong Son to become the top chess player of Vietnam. At the age of 16, Liem has proven his talent in overcoming great masters like Thien Hai, Anh Dung, Hoang Thong and Truong Son. Is there any special investment for Liem to develop his talent? “Liem currently ranks 372nd in FIDE’s ratings and if he is invested in properly, Liem can enter the top 50 of the world,” Mr Trung said. What is proper investment? It is participating in around ten international contests and being trained by a good coach who is paid US$5,000 a month. That’s an unreachable dream for a Vietnamese chess player, even a rare talent like Liem. It is sad to know that the above investment level is a dream but it is much sadder to know the current investment in Liem, because it is too low. Each year Liem receives VND21 million of salary from the HCM City Department of Sports and Physical Training, VND2.5 million for being a national sports great master and around VND20 million for being a member of the national chess team, totaling VND43.5 million (less than $3,000). Changes are needed Hoa Khanh, a former member of the national chess team, said: “Irrational investment mechanism has held back the development of sports in general and chess in particular. It’s absurd when a pupil who has just played chess for a short period of time and shows a little talent is immediately selected for the team of key chess talents and enjoys State support of several hundreds of thousands dong a month.” This amount of money is small but it becomes a big number when the payment for hundreds of players of this kind is added up. In addition, there are many other kinds of talented players who also receive State money. If this whole sum of money is invested in a small number of big talents the results would be much better. The viewpoint of Hoa Khanh is the way that developed countries perform. An overseas Vietnamese in Australia said that his family must pay everything for their 7-year-old daughter who has won a gold medal at a state swimming contest for students. If this girl becomes a member of the state team she will receive huge investment from the state and her future will be very bright. Irrational investment has hindered the development of many talents of Vietnamese sports, for example chess players Dao Thien Hai, Truong Son or Anh Dung, who have shown signs of stagnation since they lack opportunities to play in international contests. Le Quang Liem’s future will be the same when he can’t devote his mind and life to chess but has to study at school to prepare for his future life. “People like Quang Liem, Truong Son and Thien Hai are rare in Vietnam. We now have only five great masters of chess. Those transcendent heads, if they focus on studying at school only, will easily find a good job to earn a high salary. If they pursue the career of a chess player, after they stop playing chess, they can only work as a chess coach and earn a low salary. So who dares to let their children pursue such a sports career?” Khanh asked. So, a thorough change for investment in sports is a must. (Source: Tuoi Tre) Here are prior related posts: A Different Perspective Dragon Capital – Trying a Queen’s Gambit? It seems to me we have our own "war" going on right now in the USCF, between the supporters of "adult" and the supporters of "scholastic" levels of membership. That chess wag Sam Sloan recently "made a motion" (not, of course, to the actual Executive Board of the USCF, but as a post on an online message board that he can always disclaim as "not serious") to fund increased prizes in USCF-sponsored adult championships by increasing the membership fees of scholastic members by $3 per member per year. Basically, SS wants to stick it to the kids (who now are a majority of USCF paying membership) to benefit a relatively small number of above 2600-rated U.S. players who play the rather anemic tournament circuit in the US every year rather than travelling overseas where the events are more numerous but the competition is also more fierce (and they would probably, but for Nakamura, Onischuk, Krush, and a few others) lose their butts. Hint: The way to improve chess in the USA isn't by sticking it to the scholastic players.