The top five male and female chess players in Pakistan will compete on the 10-player national team at the international chess Olympiad, which will get underway in Chennai, India, next week.
At a press conference held on Tuesday at the Punjab Sports Board (PSB) in the national hockey stadium in Lahore, newly elected members of the Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) notified the media and interested parties about this development.
CFP President Hanif Qureshi explained that in just over two months since the election of the new body, they have been able to conduct various tournaments including the national championship and the national junior championship.
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They have also sent national teams to international tournaments, including the west Asian championship where Pakistan was able to bag the bronze medal.
Additionally, the speakers discussed how chess in the nation has suffered over the past 30 years as a result of excessive corruption and nepotism, to the point where there are no tournaments in the nation and the national team is unable to compete in international competitions. The local chess federation was eventually banned by the international chess federation (FIDE).
Now, since the election two months ago, there is a concerted effort to promote the game in the country. Already, the junior championship is being followed by choosing a national team to participate in various international events including World Junior Chess Championship in Sardinia, Italy in October, World U-16 chess Olympiad in Azerbaijan, Asian school championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the Asian youth championship in Bali, Indonesia.
“We are not just investing in the players, we are also working to arrange sponsorships for professional coaches, which is extremely important for long-term expansion and success of chess in Pakistan,” said CFP General Secretary Umar Khan.
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For the first time in its history, the federation has also hired an international grandmaster to serve as the team’s coach.
The federation’s financial security is the responsibility of the finance secretary, Raja Gauhar, who outlined the projects and alliances CFP is pursuing.
From July 28 to August 10, 2022, the national team will compete at the Olympiad in India among 190 other nations. Fide Master (FM) Amir Karim, the current national champion, will serve as its leader.
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Amir, the team’s captain and the strongest and oldest player in the nation, led the group at the news conference and stated his happiness with the new organization as well as his optimism that the nation would soon have an international grandmaster.