Mixed Fortunes For Botswana At Chess Olympiad
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday August 10, 2020 11:49
The event is a different from World Chess Olympiad.
During round one, Botswana beat Nigeria 5.5 - 0.5. All games were won before Refilwe Gabatshwarwe drew her game at board six.
However, things started to get sticky for Botswana when they lost all the six points to Tajikistan in the second round. The local lads made a comeback in the third round which was also played on Friday by scoring 2.5 points with their opponent, United Arab Emirates (UAE) winning the encounter by 3.5 points. WFM Besa Masaiti drew her game and Thato Olebile and Naledi Marape won their matches.
Botswana never gave up on fighting and went onto beat Angola. Unfortunately Botswana scored only 1.5 to 4.5 against International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA) team. It was a bad day in the office for Botswana as they scored only one point losing five against Portugal.
The games continued on Sunday with the Botswana team looking to put up a brave fight in order to qualify for the next stage, which starts tomorrow (Tuesday).
Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) spokesperson, Kutlwano Tatolo said the team was doing well under the circumstances, especially with the Olympiad being the first of its kind.
'They have limited access to their coach. We have not lost to any African countries nor have we lost to a country rated lower than us. Already the ratings of the players are going to increase,' she said.
Meanwhile, coach, Ivon Makabe told Sport Monitor that that they played well against Angola and much better against IPCA even though they lost the match.
'IM Providence Oatlhotse won against a Grandmaster on board one. Gomolemo Rongwane drew with black pieces against a stronger International Master. I lost two games for Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Tuduetso Sabure and Woman International Master (WIM ) Boikhutso Modongo because of technicalities. Their time ran out while they were still trying to troubleshoot,' Makabe said.
He further added that Botswana's other loss was against the current Pool leaders, Portugal who won all their matches.
Regarding the young players in the team, Makabe said he was impressed by their performance. 'I think the difference between them and senior players is that they listen and take instructions as they are. I assured them that I would not blame them should they lose a game after playing according to the plan,' Makabe said.