08 Apr 2015

Five times national chess champion, International Master (IM) Providence Oatlhotse was over the Easter holidays too hot to handle as he was crowned the Metropolitan National Chess Champion.

Oatlhotse finished on a clean slate as he wiped off all his opponents to amass the coveted eight points in the open section.  Trailing behind was veteran player, Abel Dziilani with six points while in the third spot was Candidate Master (CM) Thabo Gumpo with 5.5 points.

In the ladies section, Women Grand Master (WGM) Tuduetso Sabure delivered a superb finish in the last round to overtake Women International Master (WIM) Kgalalelo Botlhole who was leading the pack in round eight.

Sabure handed Botlhole a major upset in round nine as she trounced her 1-0 to finish at the summit.  Botlhole was leading in round eight with 6.5 points while Sabure had six points and thanks to her full point win the latter subsequently amassed seven points in total.

Long time ladies chess player WIM Boikhutso Mudongo came third with six points. 

The champions will represent Botswana at the African Individual Chess Championships in Egypt next month.

Oatlhotse walked away with P9 000 while Sabure pocketed P6 000, first runner-ups Dziilani and Botlhole obtained P7 000 and P4 500 respectively.

Receiving the prizes at the closing ceremony on Monday, Sabure said she was impressed with her performance in that she came to the tournament to refine her skills for an invitational tournament in South Africa. 

She stated that she will be going to Egypt to make Botswana proud as she continues to shine. Oatlhotse said this year’s competition was tough due to the level of competition displayed by youngsters. 

Nevertheless, he stated that he came prepared bearing in mind that he had to qualify for Egypt by all means. He advised his fellow athletes to maintain discipline which he said would take them to greater heights.

BNSC executive board treasurer, Boitshoko Tsiane thanked athletes for sacrificing their Easter holidays to play chess.  This, he said, was an indication of commitment and passion from athletes, coaches and administrators.

Tsiane said BNSC was trying to prove to government that sport contributes to economic diversification as one could take it up as a career.  He said other codes envy chess due to its professionalism and ability to attract sponsors. ENDS