KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah played a chess match against Pakistan`s Under-18 national chess champion Mehak Maqbool, who recently secured the title at the National Youth Chess Championship, organised by the Chess Federation of Pakistan.

After a few moves, Mehak checkmated the chief minister and won the match.

The CM announced Rs100,000 for each of the winners, which included Mehak Maqbool (1st place in the U-18 category, SMB Fatima Jinnah Government School, adopted by Zindagi Trust), Yamna Siddiqui (2nd place in the U-14 category, Govt SMB Fatima Jinnah School) and Alina Siddiqui (3rd place in the U-12 cat-egory, also from the same school). Riya Manji participated in the Karachi Under10 category, while Muhammad Essa Hussain competed in the Under-8 and Under-9 categories at Sivita School.

This event marks a significant milestone in recognising the immense talent emerging from Sindh government schools and challenging stereotypes about intellectual sports in Pakistan.

During the event, singer Shehzad Roy of Zindagi Trust introduced a comprehensive chess curriculum designed for students in Grades 3 to 8. This curriculum, available for adoption by schools across Sindh and Pakistan, aims to establish chess as an academic discipline.-APP