Masaiti overcomes obstacles to make chess cut
Calistus Kolantsho | Saturday March 26, 2022 06:00
Over the weekend, the Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) held the final national team selection at the National Stadium for the team that will represent the country at the 2022 World Chess Olympiad in June. The tournament will be in Chennai, India. The event was to be held in Moscow but the war in Ukraine made that impossible.
Masaiti, who is based in Texas, USA, faced a backlash as some players felt that she did not deserve to play in the qualifiers. The discontent led to senior women chess players protesting and boycotting the qualifiers.
The issue has been reported to the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) and it is yet to be resolved. The players complained about the selection criterion the executive committee used. But amidst all the controversy, Masaiti said she was excited to have made the cut. “I won all my matches, scoring 5/5 because I faced many obstacles that could have prevented me from coming to compete fairly and represent my country at the Olympiad. Some of the obstacles I faced is the ongoing controversy between the senior players who decided not to come and play the trials as well as the BNSC and BCF. I do not have much to say about the controversy.
But I am the first chess BNSC elite scholar,” she said. Masaiti said she has a responsibility to work hard in chess and at school. She said if there were critics, she was able to prove them wrong by winning all her games. Masaiti said she used to play with the youngsters who took part in the qualifiers during their days in the junior team and they have now made it into the senior side. Her father, Charles Masaiti, who is also her coach and manager said what happened over the weekend was unfortunate. “The aggrieved players should have played and then lodged the complaint later.
It is also unfortunate that such an incident is occurring just after a new executive committee has been voted into office, thus not having enough time to settle amid the turbulence,” he said. Masaiti (Charles) said for the sake of stability in chess, there is a need for all stakeholders to hold steadfastly and pull in one direction. “We need the expertise and experience of the senior players to guide the young ones to ensure a solid and smooth transformation of generational play. The youths should have confidence in their seniors that they will guide and mentor them until fruition,” he said.
Masaiti (Charles) said whether his daughter should have come to play before anyone could criticise the executive committee’s last-minute turnaround decision to include the elite scholar, it is important to understand the contractual obligations that all elite players have. BCF president, Mooketsi Segaisi said five players from each category, Open and Women's sections, qualified. “Nine players from the Open section turned up and six players from the Women’s section battled each other.
The day in which the games were scheduled to start, we received a letter from BNSC that they have received a complaint from three of the five women who did not turn up for the tournament,” he said.
Segaise said they are yet to meet with BNSC to discuss the issue.
He, however, said the selection process went well despite some setbacks. “Look, it would have been much more interesting to have had all the 11 women having a go at each other for places in the national team but it is not at all times that we get what we wish for and life has to go on,” Segaise said. The teams: Open section: IM Providence Oatlhotse, Gomolemo Rongwane, Oratile Kgotlane, Bojosi Sabure and Keletshabile Monnatsheko. Women's section: WFM Masaiti, WFM Naledi Marape, WCM Natalie Banda, Ruth Otisitswe and WCM Arona Moshoboro.