Young Marape shines in Zimbabwe
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday August 29, 2017 16:53
Marape (10) proved her mettle when she took part in a competition above her age category. She played in the Under-13 category and still proved too strong for her senior counterparts, bagging a gold medal.
Her performance meant she booked her space at the World Schools Individual Championships to be held in Durres, Albania in April 2018. Marape has also qualified to receive a higher international chess title, Woman FIDE Master.
Her coach and father, Marape Marape told Mmegi Sport yesterday that almost every player in the category was three years older than Naledi.
“She has been the most consistent national youth player over the past three years. She is the fulcrum of the team and the only player to have won a medal at each of the past three African chess championships,” he said.
Naledi was part of the team that was in a training camp with the Russian Grandmaster Nickolay Chadaey for three weeks before the competition in Harare.
The coach said the camp assisted the player a lot. He said in addition he made sure that everyday for four weeks prior to the Africa Schools Chess Championship, she had a daily schedule that included studying chess tactics, solving chess puzzles, end games, openings and middle game theory.
“I made sure that she fulfilled this schedule. Also as part of preparation for this tournament, I took her to Durban to take part in the South Africa Open Chess Championship in July. That tough tournament gave her the necessary practice,” he said.
He said the time controls of South Africa Open Chess Championship and Africa Schools Chess Championship were the same but the standard of competition was different. He said despite the tough competition she faced in Durban, she brought home a medal.
Meanwhile, Botswana emerged as the champions of Africa Schools Chess Championship after collecting nine medals (three gold, three silver and three bronze). The hosts, Zimbabwe finished in the second spot with 10 medals (two gold, four silver and four bronze). Uganda anchored the log with two medals (one silver and one bronze). Other countries that competed at the championship are Kenya, Angola, Zambia and South Africa. Botswana Chess Federation spokesperson, Kutlwano Tatolo said the team was under the guidance of Chadaev. Botswana defended their title won last year.
Gold medals: Natalie Banda (Under 11 girls) and Temo Kapane (Under seven boys)
Silver medals: Susan Sethebe (Under-17 girls), Laone Moshoboro (Under-9 girls) and Hasitha Manikonda (Under-7 girls)
Bronze: Thabo Elias (Under-17 boys), Marape Marape Junior (Under-15 boys) and Arona Moshoboro (Under-11 girls).