Botswana chess team stumbles at Olympiad
Calistus Kolantsho | Wednesday September 25, 2024 12:55
The Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) had sent a team of 10 players who competed in the Open and Women Sections. The team finished in position 11 in the Open Section Category D and position 118 and 105 in the Women Section. The men’s team was ranked 119 while the women’s team was ranked 95. The women’s team was in Category C. The BCF spokesperson, Goitsemodimo Makgatle, said the team had a hectic time at the Olympiad but they gave their best since the competition started on September 11 until September 22. “We had so much hope in the Category prize groups but unfortunately we could not reach up to that,” she said.
Zimbabwe claimed second position in the Open Section Category C and the team is now ranked number two in Africa after Egypt. Zimbabwe qualified for the World Cup together with Egypt, South Africa and Algeria. Chess coach, Charles Masaiti, who also seats on the Zonal board told SportMonitor that African countries participated at the competition despite the odds against them. He said difficulties that African countries encountered include lack of finances, lack of coaches at major events and no or low incentives for players. “Zambia missed their first games due to VISA delays while Nigeria had a tough time because some players did not receive VISAS at all, hence compelling them to send one team (Open Section).
Woman Candidate Master (WCM), Deborah Billyben, was forced to play in Open Section on her maiden outing,” he said. Masaiti said he was impressed that five of the African countries made it into the top 10, which is an indication that the future of chess is bright in the continent.
He said it is important for countries to carry out candid postmortem to learn from the experience. Masaiti said it is worth noting that FIDE handed over chess equipment to African countries for the development of the sport. African countries pegging at the Olympiad: 1: Egypt (39), 2: Zimbabwe (56), 3: South Africa (67), 4: Algeria (72), 5: Angola (88), 6: Nigeria (91), 7: Zambia (96), 8: Tunisia (98), 9: Morocco (100) and 10: Nambia (101) India is the Olympiad champion after claiming both the Open and Women Sections. In the Open Section, India garnered 21 points from 11 rounds followed by United States of America in second position with 17 points from the same number of games in Open Section. India accumulated 19 points from 11 rounds followed by Kazakhstan with 18 points from 11 rounds.