Mind games important for fostering physical, mental growth in youth: PM

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, emphasising the importance of sports, particularly mind games in fostering physical and mental development of the youth, said on Friday that chess helped instill discipline in individuals’ thought processes.

Addressing the launch of the Prime Minister’s National Mind Sports Initiative, he highlighted the positive impact of such mind games on mental well-being and said the youth engaged in such healthy activities would become successful professionals in the future.

He said these games promote cognitive activity and critical thinking among the players, the official news agency reported.

The prime minister said he was happy that he made a commitment to this special cause, and he will also continue to support and promote this cause in the future. He said every school in the country should have access to this game.

Acknowledging the contribution of the federal minister for inter-provincial cooperation, Fawad Hassan Fawad, PM Kakar said that due to his efforts, the launch of this initiative became possible.

Fawad Hassan Fawad, on the occasion, said that under the initiative, the facility of mind games would be given to 10,000 public schools across the country.

“We are going to take it across all the public schools in Pakistan, and we are also engaging the corporate sector and inviting the private schools to have this in every single school in the country,” he added.

The minister said that in the first month, some 100 schools in Islamabad would be given the facility.

The minister also recalled the tremendous performance of the late Mir Sultan Khan, a native chess player from Sargodha, who won the British Chess Championship in 1929, 1931, and 1932.

To acknowledge the performance of Mir Sultan Khan, President Arkady Dvorkovich presented an award to Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, who received the award on behalf of Mir Sultan Khan.

The president of the International Chess Federation, speaking on the occasion, said that besides being a mind game, chess was a lot of fun too. He said this game was very important for a country like Pakistan, where millions of young people were growing up.

He said, “Some 600,0000 kids in 10,000 schools in Pakistan will have the chance to get access to this game. He said the federation will support and train the teachers, who will then train kids.”

International Chess Federation Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Asian Chess Federation President Sheikh Sultan bin Khaleefa Alnahyan and Pakistan Chess Federation President Muhammad Hanif Qureshi were also present on the occasion.