Gaealafshwe, Modongo dominate championship
Candidate Master (CM) Barileng Gaealafshwe and Woman International Master (WIM) Boikhutso Modongo are champions of the 2017 Metropolitan National Chess Championships finals.
The Metropolitan championships that concluded on Monday this week in Gaborone saw Barileng going all out to defend his title in the Open Section. The event also saw Modongo beating WIM Onkemetse Francis in the ladies section.
Mudongo walked away with P7 000 prize money while Gaealafshwe bagged P7 500. Both players received medals and trophiesEven though Gaealafshwe faced serious competition from the highly-ranked International Master (IM) Providence Oatlhotse, the champion showed his mettle and emerged victorious.
Gaealafshwe was never intimidated by Oatlhotse who dominated the first and second qualifiers of the tournament.“I am honoured to win this title for the second time in a row, I was impressed by the level of competiveness showed by most players, indeed chess is growing in Botswana,” Gaealafshwe said after the tournament prize giving.
Oatlhotse finished in position two whereas Tebogo Pitlagano who also gave Gaealafshwe a run for his money finished third. For her part, Modongo said as a seasoned chess player, the tournament was hardly a walkover for her, as she was given stiff competition by both WIM Tshepiso Lopang and Francis. Tshepiso finished second while Francis landed on position three in the ladies’ section.
On behalf of Metropolitan Botswana, Marketing and Communications Executive One Oreeng said great results yielded by BCF serve as an inspiration for them to continue supporting the Federation. The relationship between Metropolitan and BCF has proven to be a solid and rather fruitful one. 2017 marks the 11th year anniversary of their partnership.
The value of the metropolitan tournament sponsorship has been rising with years, it stood at P80 000 in 2013 and increased to P108 750 in 2014 whereas in 2015, 2016 and 2017, more weight was added by the sponsor to make it a galactic P120 000. As the most lucrative individual championship in the BCF calendar, Oreeng said that they are more than pleased to provide a platform for local players to become national champions.
She assured that Metropolitan will continue to offer their unwavering support to BCF and hopefully assist rising stars such as the Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Naledi Marape showcase their skills.