Mosutha readies for world event

Botswana’s Thuso Mosutha has started preparations for a tough battle at the 2016 World Amateur Chess Championships in Greece.

Mosutha qualified for the world event after he conquered the rest of Africa at the 2015 Africa Amateur Chess Championships held last August in Maputo, Mozambique.The 2015 African event was open to all players representing African national federations affiliated to the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and the African Chess Confederation (ACC).

Only players with a published FIDE rating below 2000 for at least two years as at January 1 last year, as well as those not with any FIDE title above Candidate Master (CM) or Woman Candidate Master (WCM), were allowed to compete at the event.

The 2016 World Amateur Chess Championships are scheduled for Halkidiki in Greece from April 18 to 28 and Mosutha is expected to fly out for the event on April 16. Botswana Chess Federation’s (BCF) spokesperson Keenese Katisenge  told BG Sports that they were current working on funding his trip.

“Even though Mosutha qualified for the event, we still need further funding to finance his trip after the federation exhausted its funds because of the busy schedule in 2015. We therefore continue to make appeals to prospective sponsors to help us fund him. From Botswana,  he will need flight tickets and a stipend as his boarding and lodging costs are paid for by the organizers,” she said.

Mosutha has been hailed as Botswana’s most improved youth player and one of the most lethal blitz players in the country. He has won a number of tournaments and has claimed a good number of victims from the country’s top-rated players. He has even qualified for the 2016 Senior National Team Qualifiers which will start in February 2016 where Botswana’s rated and active players will fight for a spot in the 2016 national team.