Inaugural Junior Chess Championship gets underway
Thursday, September 28, 2023 | 200 Views |
Besa Masaiti PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG
The championship is the brainchild of the Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) and Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) first chess Elite scholarship recipient, Woman FIDE Master Besa Masaiti.
Tournament director, Charles Masaiti told Mmegi Sport that the championship has drawn local participants, as well as participants from Angola, Poland, South Africa, and Zambia, amongst others. The registration deadline has been extended to today (September 29). Masaiti noted that the tournament has received support from Courtney Frank and former American champion Grand Master Jennifer Shehad, who are Besa’s mentors in the USA. Besa is currently based in the USA.
It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...