Battle of wits as chess league winds down

Calistus Kolantsho | Friday July 27, 2018 12:40

Log leaders, EnPassent are poised to land the title, although Black Bishops trail close by.

Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) spokesperson, Kutlwano Tatolo said it would be difficult to pick a winner at this stage.

 “We are anticipating a highly contested final and it is not easy to predict the winner. But as it stands, EnPassent Chess Club is the log leaders followed by Black Bishops in the second spot. The two clubs mostly comprise young players.

However, clubs that have many senior players like Ice Queens and Poisonous Snakes had a rough league campaign,” Tatolo said.

EnPassent captain Candidate Master (CM), Thabo Gumpo told Mmegi Sport that the club is ready to challenge for the championship. He said with five games to go there is no turning back.

“We have not registered any loss thus far and this weekend, we are hopeful of keeping a clean sheet,” he said.

Gumpo said they have played against clubs that were considered a threat such as Bishops, Snakes and Kings. He said with the fighting spirit they have put up in the past, there is no reason why they should falter at the last minute, noting that motivation was high in the camp.

Regarding the state of the league, Gumpo appreciated that it was well organised.

“Strong players are dispersed in different clubs making it competitive and there is no club which could be said to be dominant over others. More clubs have emerged and that is a good thing for chess development,” Gumpo said.

FIDE Master (FM) Phemelo Kheto of Poisonous Snakes said they are still in contention despite a slow start.

“I am glad to say that Snakes has since managed to find its mojo and we are still in contention for the championship even though we are not log leaders at the moment,” he said.

He boasted that they are the oldest club in the country and the defending champions of the last club championship, held in 2004.

Kheto explained that at the beginning of the league, Snakes suffered a blow with half of the players forming a breakaway club and other players, especially youngsters, joining other clubs. He said that nearly crippled the ‘Mighty Snakes’.

Nonetheless, Kheto said they had to rebuild the club and attract new talent such as the 11-year-old Atang Mosweu and acquired services of the likes of CM Barileng Gaealafshwe and FIDE trainer, Major Ivon Makabe.

Kheto said looking at the fact that it has been more than a decade since the last league competition, credit must go to the organisers.

“Of course there are a lot of lessons to be learnt. For example, the current league was only played in Gaborone yet we have clubs from as far as Maun. This means we need to spread the games around the country,” Kheto said.

He said the other areas of improvement should include proper management of individual clubs all the way up to having an autonomous league committee.

The league winners will pocket P15, 000, with the runners-up going home with P11, 000 while position three receives P9, 000.  BCF’s Tatolo said Debswana has pledged to sponsor the league for the next four years.