The Entire History Of Pakistani chess, I guess (14th August special)
Boom!
its 1947, and the British are leaving the Indian subcontinent, leaving behind a divide. Basically what happens is are two byproducts:
INDIA
PAKISTAN
Now we have two nations freshly born, and both can choose their destiny each way. Or maybe their chess destiny, it comes to who moves their pawns the best.
Anyway, this is the history of chess in pakistan, and how it has found its own popularity in a different spot.
Pakistan entered into the arena of competitive chess in the 1950s alongside India.
The hierarchy of chess in Pakistan is based on a national federation along with four provincial federations. The national body was created in 1957,
and, after this it kinda goes dark because the next tournament and first international tournament was held in Lahore, in 1980.
:/
But, on the other hand, 1971 arrives, boom! war breaks out, we get a new birth, that is Bangladesh! What do you think will happen with their chess?
Well, in a very short space of participation, they get this guy:
And 5 other Grandmasters.
Anyways, after 1980 things start to pick up, people start to remember the legacy of Mir Sultan Khan, and then this guy emerges:
Now, this guy here, his name is Mahmood Lodhi, He is an international Master (IM) and took the same journey that Levy is taking right now : Road to Grandmaster. But unfortunately, despite absolutely dominating Pakistani chess, winning the national championships more than 10 times, some even consecutively, reaching a rating of 2400, and just needing one good tournament before a title, he got a massive rating decline and never managed to reach the position. This was in a time when the board was almost non-existent and players competed of their own fundings, and this guy was loaded. He is living his days out now as a chess coach and occassionally participating in second string tournaments. But well done mr Lodhi, well done.
Now, the problem was that the entire Chess scene in Pakistan was dominated (and when I say dominated, i mean dominated) by Mr Lodhi and Pakistan weren't very successful by getting any other masters, the notable exception being Fide master Amer Karim, who is still involved with the team as a coach. But because of no other players taking up chess, and it becoming a niche sport, chess took a backseat and remained virtually unnoticed. Also, there were quite a lot of power struggles and squabbles, and a lot of them.
This picture above literally represents the chess federation, but FIDE noticed this and suspended them from all chess activities, including international chess olympiads. And who suffered? Of course the players of chess in Pakistan. But post suspension things are looking much better for the federation, as chess tournaments are being held more frequently. There are two cities in Pakistan where chess is being held with fide rated tournaments. 70% is being held in Islamabad, while the latter are being held under Karpov Chess Club Karachi. Lahore, despite being the second largest city, rarely gets any chess tournaments.
The Pakistani chess scene of late has actually seen a good trend, with chess being taken up in schools, and people playing more and more. The rise of FIDE rated tournaments has really helped more titled players to arise, even though we still have only a handful, but I can say there are going to be a bit more in the future.
Pakistan’s chess players were able to participate and do well in international competitions thanks to receiving funding and sponsorships through FIDE and the ACF. But the money coming in also became the cause for other problems. Sadly, it has been noticed, especially in sports here, that whenever there is any money or monetary benefits coming to a sports body there is also a sudden manifestation of more people looking for their share in it. And they come out from all directions. The same happened with chess.
As the Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) — affiliated with FIDE since 1957 — felt the burden on its shoulders lessening, thanks to the foreign funding, it turned its attention to bringing up new chess talent within the country through a dedicated grassroots level effort. But then there was the emergence of a new parallel chess body, the Pakistan Chess Players Association (PCPA), claiming the same authority at the national level.
This created a confusing and chaotic situation that started closing the doors on upcoming young talent. The few who had invested their time, energy and even money in the game for the last many years also lost interest while those who remained with the game paid the price by having their names placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) — a result of the Pakistan Sports Board being confused about which national body to recognise and which players representing which body. In fact, Pakistan even failed to participate in the Olympiad held in September2018.
But now,
The Pakistan Chess Federation (PCF) has been actively playing its role for the promotion of the game. They have been making developments in the infrastructure and creating more opportunities for the men and female player to take part in local and international competitions.
In 2022, under a new management , the PCF held a National Championship of Open and Women categories combined. It has also been working on making various clubs for training in the major cities across the country. Chess associations of all the cities are also holding tournaments at local level.
So in conclusion, this (not quite) brief introduction of Pakistani chess may have given some of our foreign viewers a little of the inside scoop on why Pakistan has fully never produced a Grandmaster. But now with the future looking bright, it might just look like chess might hold up after all.
That's all for today, I've got a FIDE rated tournament tomorrow so I'll have to tune out. Tune in next time for: My favorite openings with white, and its follow-up My favorite defenses with Black.
