24 Jul 2018

In preparation for the upcoming Botswana International Junior Chess Championships, Limitless Mind Chess Academy, on July 22 convened a refresher workshop for the blind and partially sighted.

Limitless Mind Chess Academy founder, Keenese Katisenge said the international championships, which would be held in Gaborone from November 30 to December 3, would feature the visually impaired group for the first time.

Therefore, she said the workshop  was meant to prepare them for the championships.

Katisenge said it was imperative to polish their skills and keep them up-to-date with the rules of the game and to ensure useful skills transfer.

Also, she said the training gave them an opportunity to review concepts and skills that the chess trainers had acquired from the first trainers workshop, which was held in February.

The workshop, which was jointly organised by Limitless Mind Chess Academy and the Botswana Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted (BABPS) was facilitated by Federation Internationale Des Echecs (FIDE) instructor, Major Ivon Makabe and Vincent Masole.

Participants were drilled on the basics of chess, precision and tactful application of ideas against opponents to ensure they ‘checkmate’.

Thus, Major Makabe noted it was important for players to understand how to employ winning strategies when approaching chess opening, middle and end games.

The participants were also drilled on FIDE laws of chess, which, Major Masole said kept on evolving and as such it was important for the players to be knowledgeable on the current applicable ones.

BABPS chess coach, Oteng Monkge, who also works for Mochudi Centre for the Blind, said the workshop came in handy for them. “We have learnt formation for the pawns, without major pieces, to see if it can give a win or a loss. We learnt that most of the time pawns remain behind while major pieces have been moved forward,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr Monkge said, the visually impaired chess trainers and players also learnt about the importance of clever use of files or spaces on the chessboard.

The coach expressed optimism at prospects of training and fielding competent players during the upcoming Botswana International Junior Chess Championships for the first time. ENDS