This dismal performance, the first ever by a Botswana team, continues to draw criticisms from all over the world on what the results mean for Botswana and Africa chess in general. The world press had a field day, with such powerful chess websites like chessbase.com carrying articles referring to Botswana as a bye. Also not helping the situation was the fact that in the same site our players were shown having fun, and looking at the pictures one would think that this was a team that was having the tournament of its life.
Emails continue to file into this reporter's inbox from Africa, America and Europe as to how players could display such a carefree attitude when their results were nothing to write home about. Daaim Shabazz of thechessdrum.net wrote in to say of the performance: "Frankly, it makes Africa look very bad and may affect future opportunities for sub-Saharan Africa because they lost every single game... not one draw. There were all types of jokes in the press and then Chessbase runs a story showing Botswana having a great time during the rest day. This implies that they did not care that they were only there as "tourists" (not serious players) and they did not see an urgency to have a special session on the off day to stop the bleeding." So what could have gone wrong?
There is no doubt that the Russia trip had good intentions, the main one being to give the necessary practice to the team ahead of the All-Africa Games (AAG), of which there is hope that the team will bag a medal.
However, a number of very important processes were overlooked in accepting the invitation to play. As every sports person would know, if you intend to use a certain tournament for practice, then there has to be training ahead of that event. It is in this regard that perhaps the seeds for failure were sown. Botswana did not have a single training session before departure, so how could playing against the best teams in the world be of any benefit? Had they trained before, then each player would have had systems prepared to play against those players. Failure in those systems would have provided each player with an opportunity to work on antidotes in readiness for the AAG.
As it is, the players are at the same level they were before travelling to Europe. Most of the losses from the games were because of schoolboy errors, which are quite difficult to explain for players at that level.
Another aspect that seems to have been overlooked is that of cost. The whole trip cost Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) in the region of P100 000 this being in flight tickets, allowances and accommodation. This amount must set any administrator thinking as to whether there is a low-cost high-value alternative. With P100 000, the BCF is spoilt for choice in getting a good trainer to work with the team for far less. A lot of International Masters (IM) would not charge over P20 000 a month for training services.
IM Watu Kobese of South Africa comes immediately to mind, having worked with the same team for the 2003 Abuja AAG where the team got bronze. It must also be remembered that it was under the same man that Boikhutso Mudongo won the bronze medal in Slovenia in the 2002 World Chess Olympiad, while the men's team was beaten by half a point to group gold by Ethiopia. Even more important, Kobese understands the set-up of chess in the region and the mentality of the players, something the likes of IM Ivan Markovic struggled with when he worked with the team in 2000. A month- long session with a player of such a calibre brings more dividends than a two-week battering in a top class event.
There is talk within the sports codes that the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) does not allow codes to vary their allocations, for example a vote for a world event cannot suddenly be diverted to paying trainers' fees.
One is tempted to believe that in imposing such measures, the BNSC was trying to control affiliates that would want to draw from a different vote in order to top on that particular code's shortfall for a more expensive undertaking. It is difficult to see how the likes of Dorcas Makgato-Malesu
and company would turn down a request that takes resources from a different vote, but which in the final analysis saves Botswana P70 000.
With the AAG in Algeria just a month away, the BCF has a chance to go back to the drawing boards and try to steer the ship in the right direction. What appears to be of urgent importance is the appointment of a trainer for the team. There is still time, though limited, to get a good coach to drill the players. A de javu in Algeria is the last thing the country needs.
