Sabure eyes crown after return from acute illness
Koketso Kgoboge | Friday July 10, 2020 12:39
Like other sporting codes, chess activities were suspended in March following the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).
The last tournament before the break was the Northern Chess Extravaganza held at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) in March.
Next weekend, 40 local players will converge at the University of Botswana to battle it out in the Metropolitan National Championship.
Sabure aims to take her battle to the dominant new brigade in the woman section.
She was pushed down the pecking order since her break, but she got back to prove her worth in the past year when she won a series of tournaments.
However, she watched, as player of the moment, Woman Candidate Master, Refilwe Gabatshwarwe snatched the title with a point and half difference under her nose in last year’s Metropolitan tournament.
“I have done my homework and I believe I am prepared this time around and ready for the battle. The plan is to get back to winning ways and battle to achieve my dreams,” she says.
Sabure has 59 medals under her belt; 50 gold medals, six silver and three bronze medals. She wishes to reach 100 medals haul before she calls it a day on the sport.
Amongst her many targets is to return to the Olympiad next year. She last took part in the ultimate chess competition as a First Board player in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia in 2010.
She had played three other Olympiads before then in Russia in 1998, Turkey 2000 and Spain 2004.
“There is not much that I am doing now given my health condition. I stay at home, tutor chess and practise more. If funds permit, I wish to get back to competing internationally to raise my standard and Elo ratings,” the FIDE qualified instructor adds.
In 2013, Sabure was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematous that attacked her joints and made her weak. She was forced to leave her demanding nursing job and stay home.
She also took a break from hectic chess schedules that demanded more travelling and were mentally challenging, in order to recuperate.
She returned to the game in 2015, and has gradually been working at getting back to her best without putting pressure on her health condition.
Sabure has held the flag for the nation for the past two decades since bursting into the scene as a Form One student at Sedie Junior Secondary School back in 1997 when she earned her first national team cap.
She has trotted the globe for top competitions around various international states which include Russia, Spain, France and Turkey amongst others. She has been a local national champion on many occasions, and has also been a champion in South Africa and Zambia.
Her most memorable accolade is winning the African Individual Championship in Lusaka, Zambia in 2005 and being awarded the FIDE international woman grandmaster title. The next year she represented the African continent at the World Individual Chess Championship in Russia.
Although she harbours advancing further in chess, Sabure reckons her condition could be a hindrance, as she cannot sponsor herself to compete internationally.
Sabure says she sponsored her participation through allowance, while she was still at university and while she had a job as a nurse.
“In my wildest dream, I still want to achieve a lot in chess, but for now, I do not have enough finances to participate in proper tournaments where I can achieve the ratings. Unfortunately, we also don’t have enough of those tournaments in the country.”
“These days I even struggle to attend local tournaments because sometimes I can’t afford to pay for transport fare from my base here (Maun) to Gaborone and I also struggle with accommodation,” she says.
In her view, the standard of the game has not developed as statistics would otherwise, suggest. She figures development was done aptly, but it appeared there was a ceiling for Batswana players.
“It is not different from the time I was a young player. It is good that our younger players have sponsors, but at some point, it appears that falls off and kills continuity. That is the fate of most of Botswana players. We rise just a little bit.”
FACT FILE
Names: Tuduetso Anastacia Sabure
Place of Birth: Maun
Date of Birth: June 16, 1982
Sport: Chess
Honours: 59 medals, 50 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze
Favourite Dish: Traditional meal
Hobbies: Playing Chess and going to church