Disgruntled senior chess players slam BCF
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday September 13, 2016 15:35
One of the players, Candidate Master Thabo Gumpo told Mmegi Sport they feel BCF’s focus has shifted to young players leaving the seniors without sufficient tournaments. He said that has led to the decline in the performance of senior players.
“We have been relegated by the BCF leadership. They are concentrating on young players, which is why most of the senior players such as myself, International Master Providence Oatlhotse and Candidate Master Barileng Gaealafshwe did not make the team that went to the 2016 Olympiad,” he said.
Reacting to the allegations, BCF public relations director, Keenese Katisenge said for the first time the local chess body used a national team selection criteria that did not hand pick a player into the team. She said players had to compete in a series of events to qualify and this saw some top players in Botswana losing and failing to make it into the team.
“For the first time some big names in Botswana chess did not make it into the men senior national team. Every chess player’s dream is to see themselves playing for the senior national team especially during the Olympiad year so we understand their frustration, but we ask that they support this year’s team the same way they were supported before because the team is representing all of us. (The selection of the) Olympiad team is where the frustration is coming from,” said Katisenge.
She said the negativity surrounding the team is very unfair. Katisenge said she was proud and happy that the players remained strong despite all the negativity since their selection early during the year.
“We mostly host open events for all players but our big events target senior players. Our top events like Botswana International Open, Maun International Open, Francistown International Open, Roscoe Bonna, Turbo Refrigeration Masters Open, Gaborone International Open, Self sponsored blitz events are focusing on senior players,” she said.
She said however they came up with a different approach to hosting events since they appreciate the importance of grassroots development. She said BCF have made sure every event had a youth section taking the format of the Africa Youth Chess Championships, which includes the Under-8 to Under-18 to assist in preparing young players for international competitions.