There is always a cloud of pessimism over the issue of bringing in top players from overseas to represent their teams.
I would also like to clarify further on my statement "invite them over to give the other Singaporeans from other teams the opportunities to play with these top players for free." What I am trying to say here is that Singaporeans from other teams have a chance to play with this top players (free of charge) during the competition without the need to be able to represent Singapore. How many people have the chance to represent Singapore, when the players representating Singapore, sad to say, are almost always the same few. This encounters with these top players, despite being only a game, our players will still learn from such encounters! I am confident that the players who had played Wan Chun Lin, Zhao Nu Quan or any other GM would have agree with me. Furthermore, it is the team that is trying to win that is spending the money.
For me, I would be very happy to be able to just play one game with Hu Rong Hua, or Liu Da Hua, or any other top ranking players overseas. I doubt many would be able to have such a chance.
So the team that recruited the help of a grandmaster might win the championship, but did the other teams totally lose out too? No... The other teams benefit from such an arrangement that their players had experience playing with such top hands. Also, they also have a close encounter to experience how these top hands handle chess positions and games. When should we ponder more in a game? When should we not? These are all valuable lessons to be learnt. This are not to be learnt from any chess books that are on the market. Of course, we will learn much more if we are able to communicate with the player during or after the games.
Furthermore, when a top player visit Singapore, the team that recruited his help also benefit. The players from that team can ask more specific questions personally and challenge him as well.
Therefore, I am strongly in disagreement with your statement that "It has no or little improvement to the skill levels of their other Singapore team members during the stay." Unless that top player invited only play in competitions and no other games during his stay here, then the benefits would be minimal but still existing.
I am also sure that many of the players have experience a bottleneck in their chess after some time. And it is hard to have a breakthrough. Perhaps the introduction of these top players could have sparked a breakthrough in some of these players if they have the chance to match up in the competition? This would be invaluable and would worth all the money spent!
You have also mentioned 黄少龙教授(中国象棋大师) and 言穆江（中国象棋大师）. Yes, I have to agree that they are very nice people and have contribute a lot to try and improve the levels of chess wherever they go. Furthermore, they are heavily involved in the coaching of players. However, they are already not involved in competitive chess. Their level might be able to help the average players like me a lot. But to those strong Singaporean players, these masters' standards might not be enough for them to benefit much too. If we can get the whole of any of the existing team in the China League to just visit Singapore for a few days, That would be marvellous.
Let us also look at other board game in Singapore. From what I know, the team that represent Singapore for othello world cup last year included a former world champion from Japan. And the Singapore team got 3rd overall last year. Though the ranking is mostly due to that Japanese player, our players would have benefit much from fighting alongside with him. This is something not to be measured plainly by money.
In sum, those teams that valued so much of prestige and the champion would have gotten what they wanted from hiring these top hands. But they are also indirectly providing the chance for the other players to play with these people. There are lots of things to ponder about when considering whether or not to include foreign talents within the Singapore team, but I would still prefer to have a more positive attitude on this issue. And of course, this is the player's perspective. Sponsors almost always have to weigh amongst lots of factors before making a decision. The most important thing is where the sponsor's objective lies - the champion or the development of chess in Singapore...
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