24 Aug 2015

Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) hosts the inaugural Africa Schools Chess Championships which started over the weekend to the last week of this month.

The historic event in the sporting calendar of the BCF is a World Chess Federation (FIDE) and African Chess Union sanctioned tournament which will be held rotationally every year and aimed at promoting youth development in participating member states.

In an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing tournament, BCF president, Tshenolo Maruatona said Botswana was excited to host the inaugural championships which were an initiative of the African Chess Confederation. 

Maruatona explained that as member associations of the African chess governing bodies they were charged with working on the mandate of developing chess at grass root level which was top priority for the world mother body.

He noted that the tournament came at the right time as it was in line with BCF’s objective of grassroots development. He said at the end of the championships they will have an opportunity as BCF to introspect and compare notes with other countries.

Echoing the same sentiments in an interview, former BCF president, who is also executive committee member of FIDE Tshepo Sitale said their main objective was to get the game of chess into the school curriculum as that would benefit the logic and problem solving skills of young students.

He said the emphasis was to engage youth in competitive regional events before venturing into the world stage. 

Sitale was impressed with the level of turnout at the tournament despite being on its infancy stages.

Some of the local chess star players in the mould of Ignatius Ndjovu and Providence Oatlhotse amongst others are some of the players who benefited and rose through the ranks courtesy of BCF’s aggressive approach towards grassroots development. Sitale is part of the Commission on schools at FIDE.

Meanwhile, over 120 chess whizzkids will spend the rest of this week battling it out for top honors in different age categories. 

Four countries Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia are represented in the tournament. 

Some of the exciting opponents to look forward to are Zimbabwean under 17 pair of Ncube Sifiso and Chigwada Tanaka while Botswana will field the sensational Naledi Marape and Waabo Makwati amongst other gold medal prospects.

Marape’s exceptional performance on the chess board has already earned her a world ranking making her the youngest local to be rated by FIDE. Ends