10 Aug 2016

The national team has received a major boost ahead of their trip to the 2016 Chess Olympiad after local company Bathopele Projects funded them with P75 000.

The sponsorship, launched in Mogoditshane on Tuesday, will help cover the team’s preparations and participation at the competition which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in September.

Tshenolo Maruatona, the Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) president expressed relief at having found the sponsorship, stating that his federation had been struggling to finance the team.

“It has been a big struggle to prepare the team with limited resources. The funding we received from Botswana National Sports Commission was not enough. 

This sponsorship will go a long way in terms of preparing the team for Olympiad,” Maruatona said during the launch of the sponsorship at Yarona Country Lodge.

He said they had already secured a friendly match against Zambia next week. 

The team led by Major Ivon Makabe comprises five male and five female players. The male players are Moakofi Notha, Mosenya Ndawana, Thuso Mosutlha, Otsile Mapini, and Keletshabile Monnaatsheko, while the female players are Boikhutso Mudongo, Onkemetse Francis, Thapelo Francis, Mabedi Mbo, and Khumo Palesa Mooketsi. 

“This is the best team that we have and we should support it. 

It fuses experienced and young players some of whom are joining the national team for the first time. 

I am confident that they will represent us well,” Maruatona said. 

Bathopele Projects managing director Morulaganyi Tshitoeng, a former chess player for Eastern Pawns club, said they decided to sponsor the team because chess is a diverse sport which is played all over the world.

“It is a mental game which also exercises the brain. It teaches its players to think before making a move,” he said, encouraging the team to approach the Olympiad with a winning mentality.

BNSC official Bobby Gaseitsiwe urged the team to aim for glory at the Olympiad.

The team will leave for the Azerbaijan on August 31 and the competition will run for two weeks. Ends