15 Mar 2017

Approximately 78 players turned up for the Botswana Junior Open Chess Championships held at the University of Botswana over the weekend.

The seven-round competition gave the youngsters an opportunity to improve their FIDE ratings and acquire new ratings or rating bases, according to tournament director, Vincent Masole.

After two days of strong competition, 20-year-old Ice Queens chess club player, Innocent Bosane was crowned champion in the boys category.

Bosane, who was seeded sixth at the start of the competition, garnered six points from seven matches to bag a gold medal and P500 first prize.

The promising youngster said the success would encourage him to take his game to a new level.

“There were a number of rated players participating, which made the competition tough. But I managed to do better than everybody else, which shows me that I can be one of the best.
I will draw inspiration from this and make sure that I continue to improve,” the Sese-born youngster said.

Frank Pule settled for silver medal after collecting six points as well, while Gofaone Kobe took home a bronze medal after finishing with 5.5 points.

The girls’ title was won by woman candidate master, Koziba Mokhuzeni, a 19-year-old Staunch chess club player from Francistown. Mokhuzeni recorded five victories and two draws to finish with six points.

She expressed happiness at winning the title after a long lay-off from chess. “I had more than a year without playing in chess competitions, therefore this victory shows me that I can do well with more training,” she said.

Her runner-up was woman fide master, Besa Masaiti with 5.5 points, with Refilwe Bua finishing in third position with five points.

In the under-12 category, Tushar Marthu Mukund won the boys title while woman candidate master Naledi Marape won the girls title.

The under-10 title was won by Mbatshi Nyanga in the boys category and woman candidate master, Atlang Mosweu in the girls category. All players were given attendance certificates. ENDS