KARACHI: National chess master and Pakistan No 3 Wasim Akram caused a major upset in the 2nd Pakistan Chess Players Association (PCPA) Open Chess Championship Zahiruddin Farooqui Trophy underway at Beach Luxury Hotel when he beat defending champion Mahmood Lodhi in the the event’s fourth round.
Playing with white pieces, Wasim had the advantage of making the first move but the match looked evenly-balanced in the beginning. Gradually, Wasim started gaining space advantage.
He used this advantage very effectively to exert more pressure on Lodhi’s king side. Placing his horse on f6 square then he forced Lodhi to give up his castle leaving his king in a vulnerable spot.
Lodhi then tried developing his queen side to divert Wasim’s attention from his king but he made a blunder in the process and had to give up his horse as well.
It was just a matter of time before he lost the game.
Four times national champion and Pakistan No 2 Tanveer Gilani also fell into difficulties against national master Asad Rampuri.
Asad was in a better position against his counterpart but failed in maneuvering his pieces correctly before losing the game.
But Tanveer’s joy was short-lived as Lodhi beat him in 57 moves in the fifth round to bounce back in the event.
Still, Wasim Akram was on top of the leader table with five points at the end of day three.
With four points Mahmood Lodhi was tied at the second spot with Pakistan No 34 Khurram Qureshi, No 10 Riasat Ali Nazim, No 8 Syed Wahid Hussain and No 4 Anwar Qureshi. Tanveer Gilani, Jahangir Ahmed and Asif Abbasi are also tied at third position with 3.5 points.
The third day’s matches were watched by the visiting British Grandmaster Nigel David Short (MBE), who is here as a PCPA guest of honour.
Seeing the enthusiasm of Pakistan’s younger players, Short, a former Commonwealth Chess Association president, commentator, columnist and coach besides being one of the best current players of the game in the world, commented that there was great potential for chess in Pakistan.
“I wouldn’t object to coaching in Pakistan if given an offer if you can find sponsorship to arrange that. I wouldn’t have the slightest problem with that,” he said.
The grandmaster would be playing chess with 12 young players of the country on the Beach Luxury Hotel lawns at 3.00pm on Sunday.
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