PESHAWAR
The 24th edition of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Qualifying Chess Championship got under way here at SS Club University Road with a total of 87 competitors both male and female from all across the province turned-up.
Member Board of Revenue Adil Shah was the chief guest who formally inaugurated the Championship. Secretary General of Pakistan Chess Federation and President of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chess Association Umar Khan, Secretary Kashif Saleem were also present on this occasion.
In this Championship held at SS Club University Road, more than 87 men, women and young players from different districts including Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Kohat, Malakand, Swat, Dir, Shangla, Chitral, Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan are taking part.
In these competitions, there are children’s categories along with the open category wherein great enthusiasm is witnessed among the competitors as after a long time the Chess Championship is being organized in the City.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Adil Shah said that it was a pleasure to see a large number of men, women and children in these competitions, that the game of chess is also being liked and played in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said that the Director General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Captain (R) Khalid Mahmood advised the KP Chess Association that the game of Chess should be promoted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, rather this game should be made compulsory in educational institutions.
Addressing the ceremony, Provincial Chess Association President Umar Khan has said that the provincial association is regularly organizing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts and provincial level tournaments every year without government patronage.
The players of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are being sent to the national level competitions as well. He said that all the competitions being held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa according to the rules and regulations of the World Chess Federation and the results of these competitions can be seen online on the website of the World Chess Federation.
He said that due to the large number of players in these competitions, competitions are also organized in Children’s category and open category. The number of players in each of these categories is quite high.
