International Master (IM) Providence Oatlhotse, who is the reigning national champion played on board one in the Open Section, where he faced the strongest players. After round 11, Oatlhotse had accumulated nine points and was ranked second amongst the players reflected in the Olympiad player standings, with a provisional rating gain of 41 Elo points. He is on his way to a rating of 2300 with his performance placing him amongst some of the world’s strongest players, including Grandmasters. The men’s team produced a defining moment in round one when Botswana held Brazil to a draw, with Oatlhotse beating Grandmaster Alexandr Fier , rated 2537 while Arnold Mothudi defeated IM Roberto Molina who is rated 2390. Mothudi’s performance earned him a FIDE Master (FM) title norm while in the Women’s Section, Maya Otimile also achieved the requirements for the Woman FIDE Master (WFM) title.
BCF president, Kutlwano Tatolo, revealed that in the beginning when they started team selection, one player dropped off and was replaced by a reserve. She also explaine they had disciplinary issues in the team and that was because in the past, players did not sign a code of conduct but conduct has always been a hindrance. Speaking to Sport Monitor, Tatolo said player did not take national team seriously and there was behaviour that cost them good performance. “This time around they had a conversation with the players about right conduct, right mindset and how they need to structure their training and they signed a code of conduct,” she added. “We also took measures to defend the team, integrity, behaviour in which we decided to bench one of the players due to conduct and replaced him with a reserve and showed the team that we were serious.
