Battle for Olympiad slots begins
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday February 5, 2016 14:05
The first qualifiers will be held over the weekend at North Side School in Gaborone. Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) has introduced a new selection criteria for the team. Botswana will send five men and five women players to Azerbaijan.
The BCF spokesperson, Keenese Katisenge said the criteria is different from the one used last year as players will be selected based on rating and player activity.
She said the federation has adopted an open, transparent and objective approach that gives all deserving players, based on their strengths, an opportunity to contest for a position in the national team.
Previously, the chess federation had a probational national team that had eight players, from which the final five from both sections, was picked. There were fears that such a system encouraged complacency but with the new development, players cannot afford to rest on their laurels. Katisenge warned that BCF has the right to remove any player whose conduct has a potential of bringing the game into disrepute.
Katisenge said players who have made the provisional list have been divided into two groups and will compete in a Swiss Individual chess tournament. Group A is for males rated in the top 21 locally with a FIDE rating of 1,926 and above. On the other hand, Group B is for 22 male players with a FIDE ranking of between 1,925 and 1,788.
In the women’s section the first group is for players rated 1,576 and above.
Women’s Group B consists of players ranked between 1,542 to 1,239. The top 20 from the male section and top 10 from the women’s side will progress to the second round of the qualifiers in March.
“Men will be merged into one group (top 10 from group A and top 10 from group B) and compete in a Swiss Individual tournament. Similarly the women will be merged into one group (five from group A and five from group B) and will compete in a round robin tournament where the top five best performers will make it into the final team,” she said.
Katisenge said the top 10 male players from the second stage will compete in the final stage of the qualifications. She said the final stage will be played in a round robin format where the winners make it into the final squad in April.