Moshoboro is one of the talented young chess players in the country, after she recently won the 2025 national championship, beating Ndachipiwa Kgomotso in the last game. Her win saw her walk away P9, 000 richer from the final edition of the Metropolitan Life Botswana sponsored championship. The 16-year-old told MmegiSport that she concentrates on chess during weekends whilst during the week her focus is on school work at Kidz Academy International School in Kanye. Moshoboro is from Molepolole but currently resides in Kanye. “I managed to win the national championship because I trained really hard and practiced everyday to sharpen my thinking skills, with the help of my coach, Dimpho Mathinitse, who was guiding me through it all. YouTube videos and chess puzzles also helped a lot,” said the Ramotswa-born star.
Moshoboro started playing chess when she was five-years-old with her sister, Arona, under the tutelage of their father, Ofentse. At seven years, she played her first tournament and won a silver medal. Arona is currently studying in America under the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Elite Scholarship. “My favourite piece on the chessboard is a queen because it moves any number of squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, as long as its path is not blocked by other pieces. In terms of moves, I prefer e4 because it allows you to take control of the centre and opens for the pieces, so I can easily develop them. The greatest highlight of my career was winning the 2025 national championship,” she said. The new champion explained that chess has helped her to think in ways she did not know and were possible, develop critical thinking skills as well as calculation skills and planning ahead. “I don’t have fixed times for playing chess. If I’m busy, I don’t play much, but when I’m free, I play as much as I can. It depends on the workload from school, like during examinations. I am an aggressive player, and I am always looking for tactics. I would like to be remembered as a hard and dedicated player who broke national records, and I want to encourage the next generation to be better than me and strive for the best because not even the sky is the limit,” she added. Moshoboro said some of her career highlights include being the youngest WCM when she earned the title in 2016, and winning the Tertiary and Brigade Under-18 Open section in 2024. Her role model is Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa,19, because he has achieved a lot at a young age, and she aspires to be like him.
