Oatlhotse, Sabure claim honors

This past weekend saw International Master (IM) Providence Oatlhotse and Women Grand Master (WGM) Tuduetso Sabure crowned as the 2017 Gaborone Open Chess champions in their respective categories.

The 2017 Championship was held at Gaborone International School in Block 8. WGM Sabure managed to accumulate 6/7 points in the ladies section while IM Oatlhotse managed 6/5 points in the open section.The two day tournament saw Oatlhotse enjoying an impressive run where he did not lose a single game with only one draw. Oatlhotse was followed by CM Thuso Mosuth of Botswana with 6 points in second postion while last year’s champion Spencer Masango from Zambia accumulated 6 points.Second place in the ladies section went to WIM Tshepiso Lopang with 5.5 points while Woman Candidate Master Koziba Mokhunzheni claimed the last podium position with 5 points.

The tournament saw Refilewe Gabatshwarwe winning the overall U 16 prize in the ladies section with 5/7 points while Tefo Philime scooped the U16 prize in the open section. This year the open section saw increased female participants from WIM Kgalalelo Botlhole and WIM Onkemetse Francis. The duo in the open managed to get score high points against their male conterparts.

The event was supported by Kalahari Associates Botswana with P30,000.00. Kalahari Associates (Pty) Ltd. (KAL), a company supplying computer hardware and providing computing and network consultancy. A total of 117 players from Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe took part in the open section, with 36 players in the Ladies section.