Chess tourney marred by controversy

KENNETH BOIKHUTSWANE
Correspondent | Thursday July 24, 2008 00:00

 

By Saturday, it was obvious that BCF did not have any idea of the number of clubs expected hence the playing hall at Ya Rona Country Lodge proved inadequate. Up to eight teams had to play in the open space outside the hall in chilling weather conditions. To add insult to injury, the organisers misled some clubs into making mistakes which in the end cost them valuable points. Captain of Kings Chess Club, Muhammed Makwati did not have kind words for BCF. 'These people are failing our chess. The whole tournament is a mess as you can see by the amount of protests we had. For example, our team was penalised for a player we used after BCF gave us the go-ahead. It seems they don't know what they are doing. The best way is to have an independent committee to run tournaments,' said a fuming Makwati. His team lost all six points in the last round after the appeals committee ruled that the use of Mokganedi Botsoma contravened the playing rules and regulations.

BCF president Boitumelo Keinyatse acknowledged that there are certain things that could have been done better. 'The issue of players being registered with more than one team was resolved by asking the concerned players to tell us where they belong. As for the Kings Chess Club case, despite the appeals committee having ruled against the tournament orgainsers and penalising the team, we resolved that since Kings had been misled by BCF, their score should stand and therefore this issue has been put to rest,' said Keinyatse. He concurred with Makwati that there is a need for a tournaments' organising committee.

He pledged that such a body will be in place by the time the Botswana Open is staged.