Imagine dozens of Pakistani schoolchildren competing with International Grand Masters from various parts of the globe on Independence Day at the lush green ground of a club in Karachi. Everything seemed set for such a spectacle as the event’s organisers had raised millions of rupees against all odds apart from lining up grand masters of international repute from countries like Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran and Bangladesh. Everything was falling into place for an international chess tournament in Karachi before the event’s organisers were blackballed by the country’s chess authorities.

It came as a surprise for Khurshid Hadi and his fellow officials at the Mind Sports Association of Pakistan (MSAP) though it shouldn’t have. They should have known better.

Like many other sports federations of the country, the Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) is more like a fiefdom for the handful of its top officials than a proper sports body. There is almost always infighting going on in such federations with parallel groups battling for power and perks. They have little time for anything else. But when others stand up and try to deliver, like MSAP who wanted to bring international chess to Pakistan and involve young players in it, such federations can be ruthless.

I first heard about MSAP plans for an international chess tournament back in April this year. Last month, I met Hadi, the founder chairman of MSAP, and inquired about the event. He told me that there had been some stumbling blocks and MSAP was thinking about moving it to November this year.

To discuss those stumbling blocks, I met Hadi and Tariq Rasheed Khan, the other driving force behind MSAP at an office in Karachi’s DHA. It’s Khan’s personal office where he has dedicated space for MSAP activities. "We are all volunteers and are trying to do what we can for the promotion of mind sports in Pakistan," says Hadi, a former president of the Pakistan Bridge Federation (PBF).

MSAP is more of a group of like-minded individuals with a passion for mind sports - bridge, chess and scrabble.

"MSAP was established to support the regulating organisations promoting bridge, chess and scrabble. Our objectives are in harmony with those of International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) set up by the former president of the World Bridge Federation and our principal aim is to promote mind sports activities in schools and colleges," is how Hadi describes the association.

Though more involved with bridge in the past, Hadi and his team targeted chess as a tool to promote mind sports in Pakistan.

"Bridge has its share of taboos in our country," says Hadi referring to the fact that it is a card game. "Chess in comparison is a low-hanging fruit as we have a long and historic association with this game," he adds.

So MSAP drew a blueprint to promote chess by hosting an international tournament that will feature grand masters from various countries, leading Pakistani players as well as youngsters from schools and colleges.

"Our plan is to stage an international tournament that will provide an opportunity to our top chess players to get international rating and more importantly inspire our youngsters to take up the sport," says Khan.

MSAP’s plans are ambitious. Their field of grand masters lined up for the tournament include chess exponents from Russia, India, Iran and a few other countries. The list includes Ehsan Ghaem-Maghami, an Iranian grandmaster, who became a sporting hero in his country after he ousted the Israeli title holder in 2011 to regain the Guinness record for simultaneous chess games after facing more than 600 players in over 25 hours.

Then there are Russian grand masters Vasily Viktorovich Papin and Alexander Fominyh. Marat Dzhumaev, twice national champion of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan’s only grandmaster Farrukh Amonatov are also part of the field along with India’s Sriram Jha and Ziaur Rehman of Bangladesh. There were also plans to invite Viswanathan Anand, the Indian legend who once held the world chess title, for the final day of the championship.

The biggest task, MSAP thought, was to raise millions of rupees to make it happen. Through personal contacts, Hadi and his team managed to raise sufficient funds.

The next stage was to involve CFP. It is through them that MSAP could have received recognition from FIDE, the governing body of chess at the world level.

But when they invited CFP to be a part of the event, MSAP was told that it can’t happen.

"We were told to hand over the funds that we were about to raise as CFP will hold the event itself. They just flatly refused to give their go-ahead for the tournament," says Hadi.

Despite trying their best, MSAP has so far failed to convince CFP to provide its support to the proposed international event.

So why can’t MSAP give the money to CFP so the event can take place?

Well, they will be foolish if they did that. Sports bodies like CFP cannot really be trusted when it comes to funds especially substantial funds as we are talking about five to six million rupees. Over the years, there have been countless incidents of financial embezzlement in the world of Pakistan sports and CFP is no exception.

"We are ready to involve CFP in any capacity but we cannot pass them any funds because if we do that chances are that the event won’t happen at all," says Khan.

Despite the fact that they have been blackballed by the chess authorities, MSAP remains optimistic about holding the event sometimes in the last quarter of the year.

"Hopefully we will find a way to do it because we believe that such events are important for the promotion of chess in Pakistan," says Hadi.

Hadi is of the view that Pakistan should start investing on mind sports.

"Over 400 million across the globe play chess and bridge and are represented by vibrant supportive organisational bodies and governments that nurture and fund their development as part of their mandate to develop a culture of healthy mind and strong ethics.

"When attention is drawn to the lack of interest in such subjects by our own authorities, this is met with mutterings of elitism based on affluence or educational opportunity but when you consider that all that is required is either 52 pieces of cardboard or 36 symbols set on a square board - no special equipment, no grand acreage, no uniforms nor other paraphernalia - such criticism is unwarranted.

"Unlike Armenia where chess is a compulsory subject from primary level or the many counties where chess and bridge are elective subjects at secondary schools, it appears unlikely that any government in Pakistan will legislate to bring mind sports to the national curriculum. But we should keep trying."