Chess team returns from Olympiad in China with acceptable results
The Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) National Team recently returned from prestigious 44th Chess Olympiad, the tournament was held in Chennai, India.
Although the team was not exceptional at the competition, the team Head of Delegation, Tingwane Mokwaledi said the performance of the team is generally acceptable, more so that some of the players were awarded titles. “A higher number of them could have been better, we had 7 debutants out of 10, so we accept the performance,” he said in a telephone interview this week.
In the Men category, Gomolemo Rongwane has attained the title of Fide Master; for a direct title to be awarded immediately, an applicant has to have achieved at some point a minimum rating of 2100, of which he did. “Gomolemo attained 2 titles in the same event, Candidate Master and FM.”
Same applies to Bojosi Sabure, for the Candidate Master title. Overall, the Men finished 3rd in their category, but only Gold Medalists are recognized and will get their medals. Team Botswana was seeded 113 and ended at 100 out of 188 countries.
On the flip side, Ruth Otisitswe has been given the title of Woman Candidate Master. She had to reach a minimum of 1800 to get it, and is currently hovering at 1500. The Women were seeded number 88 and finished on 101, out of the total number of countries, 162.
Conversely, it was critical that the team has a mixture of experience and youth. The youthful team was even competitive and is showing strong signs of bringing better results in future.
The evolving Federation aims to attain a high performing team hence it is critical to always have young players in the team who will gain the necessary experience at a young age.
Although the team was not exceptional at the competition, the team Head of Delegation, Tingwane Mokwaledi said the performance of the team is generally acceptable, more so that some of the players were awarded titles. “A higher number of them could have been better, we had 7 debutants out of 10, so we accept the performance,” he said in a telephone interview this week.
In the Men category, Gomolemo Rongwane has attained the title of Fide Master; for a direct title to be awarded immediately, an applicant has to have achieved at some point a minimum rating of 2100, of which he did. “Gomolemo attained 2 titles in the same event, Candidate Master and FM.”
Same applies to Bojosi Sabure, for the Candidate Master title. Overall, the Men finished 3rd in their category, but only Gold Medalists are recognized and will get their medals. Team Botswana was seeded 113 and ended at 100 out of 188 countries.
On the flip side, Ruth Otisitswe has been given the title of Woman Candidate Master. She had to reach a minimum of 1800 to get it, and is currently hovering at 1500. The Women were seeded number 88 and finished on 101, out of the total number of countries, 162.
Conversely, it was critical that the team has a mixture of experience and youth. The youthful team was even competitive and is showing strong signs of bringing better results in future.
The evolving Federation aims to attain a high performing team hence it is critical to always have young players in the team who will gain the necessary experience at a young age.
