AKA Dhaka shines bright in chess championship  

From 4-5 November, the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka participated in the largest inter-school chess tournament of the year – Marks Active School Chess Champs – where bright young minds across 64 districts competed against each other. School-based teams initially played at the district level, with the winning teams then taking part in the divisional level. 

The Dhaka district was divided into six zones, with the Academy competing in zone 4. A total of 58 teams from 32 schools participated in the preliminary phase of this competition. Among them, only eight teams qualified for the next round.  

The Academy secured the first runners-up position with 12 match points at the divisional level, the same number of points scored by the champion team. Due to the tie-breaking system, the Academy stood second in the competition. The Academy's players at the divisional level were Grade 8 students Farhan Abdullah, Alijah Nusaiba, and Solomon Aziz Chaudhury, Grade 7 student Inaaya Zaman Khan, and Grade 5 student Ishraq Zaman Khan. The same team secured the runners-up position at the district level, with Solomon receiving the ‘Best 3rd Board Player’ trophy for winning all seven games.  

“I had a lot of fun,” said Grade 8 student Aariz Khan. “It feels pretty good to be runners-up in this competition. We also got a chance to meet excellent players from different schools.”