International Schools Educational Olympiad

KARACHI: Pakistan may be obsessed with cricket, but at the International Schools Educational Olympiad (ISEO) the chess tables are the biggest attraction.

Karachi High School, the organiser, claims ISEO is the largest inter-school event in the country with more than 100 schools and 3,000 students taking part in the five-day tournament.

Around 51 chess players are competing with some strong female contestants. Afroz Muhammad, 11, from the SMB Fatima Jinnah School, seemed determined to win the tournament on Tuesday. “My father used to play chess at home. My interest in chess also developed when singer Shehzad Roy introduced chess classes at our school,” she said, before focusing her entire attention on her match.

Chess player Shahzad Mirza, who was judging the tournament, believes that, “Chess is gaining popularity among students at a time when computers have taken over physical activity. These kids have a lot of potential. They just need a push from their schools, and the government to support them.”

In one of the classrooms, back-to-back chess games were being played by anxious students, who clocked their every move. Tabish Imran from St Patrick’s School relaxed after beating his opponent in a minute. “I am happy to finally win a game after losing two,” he said