Lodhi ends chess event at 24th position

Sole Pakistani loses final round match in Iran.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Mehmood Lodhi finished 24th at the Ferdowsi International Chess Open Tournament in Iran after a loss in his 11th-round match against Azerbaijan’s Ibrahimov Rasul.

According to details made available, the country’s ace chess player fell to grand master Rasul in the final round of the event and missed the chance of finishing among the tournament’s top ten.

With both contestants starting the game with seven points each, Rasul leapfrogged into ninth position among the 140 participants after the victory, while the Pakistan champion, who had started the event in 14th, finished outside the top 20.

However, according to an official of the country’s chess federation, Lodhi’s finish was respectable as he was competing against several grand masters from various countries. The Pakistani will stay in Iran to take part in another international championship that starts later this month.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2012.