Veterans, youngsters in Metropolitan qualifiers

They seem to enjoy the national championships more than any other as they rarely appear in other Botswana Chess Federation(BCF) events  such as the Botswana Open, and the national team's championships. The BCF over the past few years even tried to organise a veterans' event in an effort to win the country's oldest players back to the game.

The national championships, attended by 144 players saw the likes of former national team players Mopati Jobe, Mosenya Ndawana, Makalane Makalane, Polite Salane as well as experienced Zimbabwean chess masters Jona Chaka and IM Kudzanai Mamombe adding excitement to the first round of the qualifiers. Other notable veterans included Charles Kidega, Dragon Kesiilwe, Kenneth Boikhutshwane, Ivon Makabe, to name a few.