Interview: Checkmate!

When wrestlers in Punjab consume entire goats and litres of milk for breakfast on the morning of a wrestling match in order to build up their strength and energy, why can’t the country’s chess champ, too, do the same to build his mind power? Though international chess master Mahmood Lodhi, too, hails from Punjab, Gujranwala to be exact, he is very mindful of what he eats or doesn’t eat before and in between his matches.

“When playing, I even skip lunch,” he says. Chess is an indoor game after all and even though he would be seated comfortably on a chair while playing his matches, he says that he has to keep himself healthy for his peace of mind. “I cannot have anything in excess because if something happens to my body, my thoughts will automatically be diverted to my not feeling too well, making me lose all my concentration,” he explains. “Also if I eat too much, I would want to go to sleep rather than play!”

When asked what else he does to keep his mind sharp and active, Lodhi laughs and says: “I do lots of things including mind sharpening exercises but I shouldn’t be giving away all my secrets, now should I?”

But Lodhi has something far better going for him than diet and mental exercises — his family’s support.

“We are a very close-knit family of five brothers and four sisters. All my brothers and three of the brothers-in-law play, too, but I’m the only one who turned professional,” he informs.

Asked why leave out the sisters then, he says, “Well, they are too busy praying for my success when I play. And if I lose, they cry their eyes out. So involved are they in my games that I honestly believe that they would do themselves much good by not playing.”

The love for chess was inherited by the brothers and sisters from their father Colonel A. A. Lodhi. “My father learnt how to play chess from a much older army buddy in the early 1940s. We are basically an army family hailing from Qalandar in Jallundhar, India, originally. But we left everything there in favour of migrating to Pakistan. My parents came here on August 14, 1947,” he says.

Born in Gujranwala in 1961, Mahmood Lodhi has been brought up around the chess board. My father used to play quite regularly with his friend Colonel Iqbal Qureshi here. And both he and the friend would also play with us children,” he reminisces.

But what about the other young enthusiasts here? Lodhi believes in proper coaching for the indoor game.

“Well, there is some work underway in Karachi, where the only other international master of Pakistan besides myself, Shahzad Mirza, is involved in training some four to five hundred little boys and girls at Shahzad Roy’s schools,” he says.

“But what to talk about grassroots when even I don’t get appropriate coaching. What you see is just latent talent; I could have gone up more had we got proper coaching. But how can the Chess Federation of Pakistan get us a foreign coach, which would cost around $10,000 a month, when they get an annual grant of around Rs200,000, which is more like zakat or charity than a grant!” he fumes, which is rather unusual for the otherwise cool and calm chess master.

“I will be going to play in India in a few days but for that I have to arrange the airfare and food from my own pocket although authorities in India will provide accommodation for the duration I am there. I can’t even think of turning to the federation for any help. Anyway, I don’t play for money but to bring honour to my country,” he shrugs, dismissing the matter.

His rating has been getting better and better with time. “I have been national champion for 12 continuous years now and am the No 2 in Asia. I was ranked 2,475 in the world in 1993-4, which was then the highest ever for Pakistan.”

Winning all his games, he had only lost one to England’s Julian Hobson in the Grand Master Tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh, then. Now after the World Chess Olympiad, held this past September, his rating is 2,400. “Mind you, it’s always a big thing to end up within 2,500,” he explains.

Today he is looking forward to becoming a Grand Master or GM, as they call it in chess lingo. “I hope to reach that level within a year,” he says. And with that would develop the attitude … “Grand Master is the second highest title after ‘World Champion’. After becoming GM, I am entitled to demand $1,500 for an appearance in any international chess journey plus air tickets, etc., as no one bargains with a GM,” he points out.

About how many tournaments he gets to play in one year, Lodhi says that he can easily play up to 20 to 25 per year. “I choose the tournaments myself as I do it keeping in mind how they will affect my rankings,” he says.

Asked about why the country’s other international master has not reached the heights he has, Lodhi says: “Well, I have great respect for Shahzad Mirza but he really doesn’t play as many tournaments as me whereas I have dedicated my life to the game.”

About the future of chess in Pakistan, he says: “There were only three international masters in India some 23 years ago when there were only two — Shahzad Mirza and myself — in Pakistan. Today they have several, including the world No 2, who happens to be a lady, by the way. And we still have the same two! I leave you to judge the future of chess here after this observation,” he concludes.