The Final Takeaway
The Final Takeaway
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to your favorite series on the internet, the Olympiad recap. As we say goodbye to thTe 45th chess olympiad, we have to look at Team Pakistan's performance with a positive note. Despite sending an underexperienced team, Team Pakistan showed their strength and made the country proud. Let us start with our main takeaways.
#1: Fearless style of play
Team Pakistan really showed a fearless style of play, and that can be exemplified in the style of sacrifices that were made, which really improved the morale of the Pakistani contingent.
#2: Wins
Team Pakistan was exceptional in their playing field, despite there being some setbacks before, the last few rounds were quite a spectacle. Momin Fayzan in particular, managed to defeat an International Master from Uganda, and also managed to defeat several other titled players. The men's team captain, Mafaaz Khalid, also showed some impressive play against high rated opponents.
#3: The Women's team
I have to applaud the Women's team play. I have to say, they have impressed with their outings against high rated opponents. The most remarkable showing was their last showdown against Togo, While Sehba Shah, despite being unrated pulled off a remarkable win against a Candidate Master from Japan.
#4: The Overall Showing
The Pakistani team really impressed overall, with Chess Team of Pakistan winning the Group Bronze Medal in the olympiad.
#5: Backing of new players
In previous olympiads, the Chess Federation of Pakistan normally sent experienced and old players for the olympiad, which resulted in Talent being buried and lack of exposure for regular players and the young talents. However with the selection this time around, it is quite happy to say how the team has performed, and the exposure of New Talents.
#6 : Results
Two big takeaways from this olympiad were the excellent results of the Pakistani contingent.
Aayat Asmi managed to achieve the Youngest Women Candidate Master Title for Pakistan, a truly impressive showing. At the age of only 11 years and 11 months, she managed to break the rating of 2000 classical, which meant she had achieved the WCM title along with the WNM title too. That is a truly impressive feat, and the well-wishers of Pakistani chess hope for more better results from Asmi.
Hanif Qureshi, the president of the Chess Federation of Pakistan, stated :
"I am very satisfied with the results of Aayat and Momin in the 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary," .
"Earlier, Aayat won bronze at the World School Championship in Aktau, Kazakhstan. Praise to Aayat and Momin, their parents, and FIDE for supporting their participation in international competitions.
Aayat's mother Sidra Butt had this to say:
Of course, I feel very happy and excited. She has worked very hard to be here," she told The Express Tribune. "It is unfortunate that we have limited facilities to show our potential. But Aayat is lucky to have the opportunity and I really wish she can become an inspiration for other girls."
Meanwhile, Momin Fayzan, managed to achieve the Candidate Master title by achieving the rating of 2200, as he managed to score 6.5 points out of 11.
He plans to achieve the IM title in the future, but he has clearly stated that the title is his alone, as he plans to change federations to Canada in the future, owing to a lack of opportunities in Pakistan.
Thank you very much for tuning in at today's blog, and tune in next time for our next series. Have a good day and be well!
