Chess stars, Thuto Mpene and Woman Candidate Master (WCM) Atlang Mosweu fought tooth and nail to make sure that the 2023 International Youth and Cadets Chess Championship titles remain in Botswana.
Mpene won the Open Section after he registered a 100% score before the start of round seven of the competition held over the weekend at the Learning Centre.
Mosweu made the country proud when she won the women's title.
Mpene and Mosweu pocketed P2,000 each, a trophy, gold medals, and chess sets.
Tournament organiser, Vincent Masole told Mmegi Online that the tournament, initially called National Youths and Cadets had grown.
“In the first edition we had four countries playing, so we decided to change due to the interest of other countries. We opened it to be an international event. This year, Zimbabwe brought in 44 players, which is a growth. Last year we had less than 20 players from four countries,” he said.
Masole said the tournament was a battle between Botswana and Zimbabwean youth, which was reflected in the way the medals were exchanged throughout the weekend.
The visitors went back home with eight medals.
He said the sponsorship continues to elude the event. Masole said the tournament is made possible by the passion of the chess people because for a tournament to take place, one has to be intentional about it.
“Everything will then fall in place. The support we get from chess parents is amazing because we have to pay for prize money, medals, trophies amongst others,” he said.
Masole said his focus is on the youth because of the potential. He said the youth always bring medals from different competitions, with the recent one being the Africa Youth Chess Championships, where they finished in position two. He said other chess powerhouses such as Algeria attended the continental tournament.
“Our youth need recognition, they need to be given the chance, that is where the challenge is and where we get positive results,” he said.
Masole explained that as organisers of the event, they deliberately did something unique by setting up the hall and everyone came in to find everything ready. He said that is the international practice that makes players feel that the atmosphere is different.
“All players had chess sets waiting for them and in the Open Section, all players had chess clocks. The idea is that all chess organisers should lift the standard because we have titled players and others have played in other countries. Even the Botswana Chess Federation must benchmark from us,” Masole said.
Other medal winners:
Open section: Lesego Mokoba and Peo Sigwele (silver medals), Aone Morei, and Lynne Simango (bronze medals).
Under-16 boys: Arona Moshoboro and Eesha Reddy (gold medals).
Under-14: Aobakwe Kagiso and Grace Zvarebwa (gold medals).
