Olebile kicks ofAICC on a high note
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday December 16, 2014 18:46
The tournament started on Saturday in Windhoek, Namibia and will run until December 23.Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) spokesperson, Keenese Katisenge told Mmegi Sport that the tournament is open to all African Chess Federations affiliated to the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
She explained that the 2014 AICC winner in the Open Section would be awarded with a Grand Master (GM) title, whilst the winner in the Women’s Section will be awarded with a Woman Grand Master (WGM) title.
She added that other titles would be awarded in accordance with FIDE title requirements. “The 2014 African Individual Chess Championships is also a qualification event to the 2015 African Chess Confederation Grand Prix Circuit.
“The top three placed players in each section will qualify for the 2015 African Chess Confederation Grand Prix Circuit.
“The tournament total cash prizes amount to USD 27,500 (about P220, 000),” said Katisenge.
She explained that Olebile, who is with En Passent Chess club, was selected after displaying impressive performance in 2014.
His 2014 achievements include a FIDE Master title award by FIDE at the World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway in August. He is a silver Medalist at the 2014 Botswana International Open Chess Championships and he also snatched a silver Medal at the 2014 Metropolitan national chess championships finals.
He went on to grab another silver with his club at the 2014 National Development Bank Clubs Chess Championships.
Olebile is a gold medalist at the 2014 FIDE Rated Blitz chess tournament and he was also part of the team that represented Botswana at the 2014 Zone 4.3 Chess Championships in July 2014. Katisenge revealed that BCF sent one player due to financial challenges.
She noted that last year when the same tournament was held in Tunisia, Botswana was represented by Woman International Master (WIM) Boikhutso Mudongo, Woman International Master (WIM) Tshepiso Lopang and FIDE Master Ignatius Njobvu.