Underdogs Claim Roscoe Bonna Blitz Tourney
Calistus Kolantsho | Monday August 26, 2019 11:46
Buyani beat seasoned opponents such as Candidate Master (CM) Barileng Gaealafshwe, Keletshabile Monnaatsheko and Moakofi Notha. The youngster won the tournament with eight points out of nine. The Enpassent chess club member, Buyani walked away P1, 200 richer while Gaealafshwe pocked P800 for finishing in the second position. Notha was rewarded with P340 for the third position.
Buyani told Sport Monitor said that he invested a lot of his time in solving many tactics and working on strategies.
“My final games were not easy because I played against tough opponents being Gaealafshwe, Monnaatsheko and Notha. The move that worked for me was the London System and it made it easy for me to walk away as a champion,” he said.
On the other hand, Dusani picked a surprise victory in the women’s category walking away with P650 followed by Boitshepo Rebatenne in the second spot pocketing P450. Position three went to WCM Londani Tamuhla and Kenanao Lepotokisi finished fourth and each pocketed P175 each. There was an Under 14 section which was won by WCM Natalie Banda who pocketed P200 for the girls’ category, and Darious Banda won the boys’ section also taking home P200.
Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) spokesperson, Kutlwano Tatolo said the one-day blitz speed chess is mostly aimed at building social chess.
“Roscoe Bonna used to be chess sponsor back in 2006 until 2010. They have returned to assist us again. Most of our top players did not take part in the tournament because they are competing at the ongoing African Games in Morocco,” she said.
The blitz speed chess, which Roscoe Bonna sponsored to the tune of P8, 000, had attracted 57 participants.
Meanwhile, in Morocco by Saturday, chess had played five games, won three and lost two games against Algeria and the host country.
The national women’s champion, Refilwe Gabatshwarwe is part of the team and she is making her African Games and senior team debut. By the end of the day, Gabatshwarwe and International Master (IM) Providence Oatlhotse each had won three games out of five. WIM Onkemetse Francis had won four games, pulling a single draw out of five.