KARACHI: Young Saad Vohra was declared “player of the month” by the Pakistan Scrabble Association for the month of October 2019.

The eight-year-old Saad Vohra, a fine player, gained 50 rating points in October to clinch the award. Mahrukh Zaim improved her rating by 45 points in october to clinch the second prize while Noor Shaukat finished third after gaining 32 points in the same period.

The winners were presented with cash and certificates. The award was announced by the Director Youth Program Tariq Pervez to encourage participation in the weekly scrabble games.

The award is presented to the player that improved their game the most during the month and not based on the number of wins. This means that every player, new or experienced, has an equal chance of winning the award. The improvement is measured by the rating points gained during a one month period using the international standard rating system.

An unprecedented large number of players have been turning up for games every Friday at the Beach Luxury Hotel after the announcement of the award by Pakistan Scrabble Association.

It must however be noted that a senior player Abdul Wahid gained 48 points and was second in the list but he very kindly volunteered to pass on the award to the next player in the list in order to encourage a younger player.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2019