19 Jul 2016

Botswana Chess Federation vice president for administration, Roger Tiroyamodimo, says the federation intends to spread its wings given the rate at which the sport is growing.

Speaking at the closing and award ceremony of the Maun International Open Chess Champions over the President holidays, he said drawing from their experiences in Maun, they wanted to extend chess to places such as Shakawe and Gumare.

“Since our tournament level is improving and attracting more players, we intend to reach places where chess is not played’,” he added.

Tiroyamodimo said the federation was working hard to promote grass-root development hence spreading its wings to reach more places and attract more players who could take the game to greater heights.

He expressed excitement that this year, the tournament attracted more top players such as Woman Grand Master (WGM) Tuduetso Sabure, FIDE Master(FM) Thato Olebile, Candidate Master (CM) Tebogo Pitlagano and Woman International Master (WIM) Onkemetse Francis.

He said the tournament also attracted a Zambian top player, Kela Siame.

The vice president pointed out that an impressive number of students turned up and gave the top players a tough competition. 

He said their participation showed that they had interest to grow the game and thanked all the participants and the sponsors for a job well done.

Siame was crowned champion in the open section while Francis was the champion in the women section. 

The duo walked away with trophy, gold medals and P2 000 each.

Still in the women section, Sabure scooped position two while Kgomotso Ndachipiwa got position three.

In the open section, Pitlagano got position two and Kuda Bayani got the third spot. The 2015 champion in the open section, FM Thato Olebile failed to retain his position as he got position nine.

Francis said in an interview that the competition was tough as the students were giving them hard time. She said the students who participated in the tournament were brave and aggressive to face the top players adding the top players managed because of their experience.

“This really shows that we have a bright future in chess. I thank all the sponsors and the organizers who made it possible for the tournament,” she added.

The Zambian player, Siame said it was an honour to play in Botswana and win. He said he decided to take part in the tournament to motivate the young players. He commended the federation for a job well done in developing the game from grass-root level.

Meanwhile, the federation public relation director, Keenese Katisenge explained that the Maun tournament was launched in 2013 as a pilot project and they have experienced a big difference in terms of participation, quality of players and its success.

She appreciated that the tournament was growing in bounds and leaps hence they decided that it be held annually in the tourism destination town. 

In addition, she noted that the tournament assisted the federation to measure the strength of the players as they used the FIDE (the world chess governing body) ratings. ENDS