Chess gets P1million sponsorship

Debswana Mining Company is expected to sponsor Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) with a gallant one million pula. The sponsorship unveil is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) in Gaborone. This publication has been reliably informed that the sponsorship deal is most likely to span for a period of four years. The funds will cover the Annual Chess league, which starts this weekend and Botswana International Open, which is slated for September while the dates for the Debswana Youth Championships are still to be finalised. This information is sourced from the 2019 BCF calendar of events document. Nevertheless, the BCF President Mothokomedi Thabano remained cagey when asked for details surrounding the Debswana sponsorship deal but confirmed the date of the launch. Thabano noted that he wants to reserve the details on the matter until Debswana had officially announced the sponsorship. The BCF President, however revealed that the launch will also double as a welcome ceremony for the national youth team that recently conquered Africa. The team represented Botswana at the African Schools Individual Chess Championships in Limpopo, South Africa. The team, made up of upcoming chess stars such as Women Fide Master (WFM) Besa Masaiti, Ruth Otisitswe and Refilwe Gabatshwarwe, among others, amassed 8 gold medals, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. Thus successfully defending the championship title and creating a new record. Botswana garnered 9 medals at the 2016 event in Zambia and won another 9 in the 2017 games held in Zimbabwe.