Mind sports Collegiate Programme launched at Institute of Business Management

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The top officials of the Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP) have expressed satisfaction at the successful launch of their Collegiate Programme at the Institute of Business Management (IoBM) in Korangi Creek, Karachi.

Tariq Rasheed Khan, Director, MSAP, who is also handling the Collegiate Programme, reckoned that the successful launch at the IoBM has opened the floodgates and quite a few other prestigious educational institutions have expressed the desire to adopt mind sports in the same way.

“The two-day activity at the IoBM was a dream come true occasion for the hosts as well as the organizers. It was very heartening to such an enthusiastic response that augurs very well for the future of mind sports in Pakistan. Among the students who enrolled themselves in the launch at the IoBM, as many as 50% participated in chess, 30% in scrabble and 20% in bridge,” he revealed.

The Students Activity Centre of the IoBM was flooded with the enthusiastic youngsters who were eager to be a part of history being made at the campus. It was for the first time when the college students were provided with a customized setup for the mind games.

In the welcome address in the inauguration ceremony Tariq Rasheed acknowledged the support of the various stakeholders who made the takeoff possible against the heaviest of odds.

“It’s always tough when you go about reinventing the wheel. We knew about the challenges when we embarked upon the mission of taking the mind sports to the educational institutions,” he observed.

“Since it was a new concept we needed to do presentations and convince the institutions about the virtues of the programme. It’s very heartening to note that the management of the IoBM, based on the feedback from the faculty and the students, took the lead and we are launching the programme now,” Tariq Rasheed added.

“It would not have been possible to do it without the support of the concerned quarters. We are grateful to our sponsors and the media for having lent us the desired encouragement. Our Board of Directors at the MSAP deserves compliments for having kept the ball rolling,” he said.

The Chairman of the MSAP, Kemal Shoaib, spoke about the aims and objects of the body that was formed under the leadership of Khurshid Hadi last year.

He praised the management of the IoBM for having adopted the MSAP Collegiate Programme at their institution and hoped that this would help their students in further sharpening their skills.

Dr Faisal Farooqui, speaking on behalf of the IoBM, expressed his gratitude to the MSAP for having launched the programme, which he thought, would be hugely beneficial for their students.

“It’s quite an amazing effort on part of the MSAP to have integrated the games of bridge, chess and scrabble. All these games are extremely popular among the students and they would gain immensely by playing them in an organized manner. We are confident that our students will make the most of this opportunity and enhance their capabilities in the mind sports,” he noted.

Azwer-ur-Haq, President, Karachi Bridge Association (KBA), Shahzad Mirza, International Master and Secretary, Chess Players Association of Pakistan (CPAP), Shah Nawaz Khan, an ex-Secretary General, Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) and Abdul Wahid Bhalia of the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) were also in attendance at the launch alongwith the MSAP officials, Kemal Shoaib, Tariq Rasheed Khan and Pervez Iqbal.

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