16 Mar 2021

Africa Chess Commission (ACC) vice president, Tshepiso Lopang says she feels honoured to have been selected to officiate at the ongoing World Online University Chess Championship, which started on Saturday until March 28.

Lopang, who has been appointed deputy chief arbiter, is one of the three selected from Africa, alongside two other officials from Kenya and Uganda.

In an interview, Lopang said the selection signalled the growth of women in chess officiating.

She applauded Africa Chess Commission for its efforts in the growth of women in sport particularly women refereeing in the sport.

“This nomination alone gives Botswana a good chance to continue doing well in chess worldwide because refereeing in chess online will also position our athletes to do well,” she said.

She said her role would be to ensure that there was fair play where she would have to use her technical expertise in refereeing.

She encouraged women either in coaching or refereeing in chess to go for technical courses to boost their skills, stating that playing online was more effective and challenging.

For players to do well in online competitions, she enouraged them to familiarise themselves with new features of online competitions to help them perform well.

For her part, Botswana Chess Federation spokesperson, Jady Tatolo said Lopang had been doing well in her officiating assignments.

She further noted that the selection was a sign that Botswana was doing well at the FIDE level more especially that most African countries had not been doing well because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She noted that with her rich experience, Botswana was well represented in Africa and the rest of the world.

This will be Lopang’s fourth time officiating at the world stage competitions.

The World Online University Chess Championships have been organised by FIDE in conjunction with Rio Grande Valley. ENDS