LAHORE - Pakistan's chess star Mahmood Lodhi was glad with his consistent performances in the 3rd Al-Ain International Open Chess Tournament which ended on Saturday.
"This was most consistent performance in any international event against some top Grand Masters of International Chess Federation," he said on his return from United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday.
Lodhi held Russian GM Volkov Sergey with FIDE rating 2599 to draw to end with 6.0 Points and Lodhi played at a performance rating of 2393. "By virtue of my consistent show, I improved my ranking by 65 points from 2328 to 2392 points," he said.
According to official results, Lodhi claimed third tier with 6 points with Top GMs at 7.0 and Next GMs at 6.50. During the course of nine-round competition Lodhi played five GMs and won two, draw two and lost one game.
This was best-ever achievement by any Pakistani chess player in an international level. Over 150 chess masters including 20 Grand Masters, over 30 IMs featured in $34,000 prize money. He said if proper financial support is given by sports authorities of Pakistan he was capable achieving Grand Master title. However, he said: “Chess is neglected sports in Pakistan and players are hardly find any sponsorship to travel abroad for international events.”
Lodhi said he was only able to feature in the Al-Ain Open Chess as United Arab Emirates (UAE) Chess Association extended him boarding, lodging and air passage because of Pakistan number one standing for over a decade. He said he could not get any prize money as he could not finish among the top 10 players.