Onkemetse�s dream Olympiad

Monkagedi Gaothobogwe | Friday September 16, 2016 14:24

 

Onkemetse Francis

By Saturday, Onkemetse was cruising with unbeaten streak and ranked amongst the top five board one players at the Olympiad, in contention for one of the three available board prize medals. She looked poised to finish the 2016 Chess Olympiad on a high and appeared zeroing into emulating Boikhutso Modongo’s Olympiad medal winning performance of 2002.

 Onkemetse’s unbeaten streak was ended on Saturday evening by New Zealand as the Botswana women lost 3-1 in round 8, before a shock 2-2 draw with neighbours Zimbabwean in round 9 where she was the only loser in the team.

With two rounds to go, Onkemetse could only manage draws against Malta and Dominican Republic, as the Botswana team played to 2-2 draw and then beat Dominican 2.5-1.5 points.

Interestingly it was another Francis sibling, Thapelo, playing board three for Botswana who seemed to gain momentum in the last four rounds, first snatching a draw that was followed by three winning streaks on her way to finishing the Olympiad with six points, only half a point behind her sibling.

For Onkemetse’s sibling, Thapelo it was a dream debut at the highest level thanks to an impressive showing of 54% performance.

While Onkemetse would reflect on a proud record of having dropped just two games out of 11, she would sadly feel this was her best prospects ever for a board medal prize had she had the necessary strategic support to enable her to clinch the medal.  On another bright side, Onkemetse would reflect on a tournament that catapulted her world ratings from 1777 to the new 1961, an upward improvement of 184 ILO’s (chess points), which further cements her status as the highest rated woman player in Botswana.

Elsewhere in the team, Mabedi Mpho also increased her personal rating from 1531 to 1543, and Thapelo increased hers from 1700 to 1796, while an unrated Mooketsi Khumo is now ranked 1350.

Winning a chess medal takes a lot of team work and deliberate strategy, as Botswana learnt and experienced 14 years ago when Modongo attained the legendary status of being the fist ever woman of colour to win a chess Olympiad medal as she finished the Slovenia world show piece unbeaten, having collected seven points from eight games, scoring six wins and two draws in the process.

Back then, Modongo was well protected and assisted deliberately by a strategy marshalled to deliver the bronze medal. The management of the team picked and chose which games Modongo played in, or did not play in, ensuring that she does not taint her chances of delivering the medal.  They also decided that Modongo, their best prospect for the medal, only participated in just 50% of the 14 games.

For instance, during the 2002 Olympiad, Modongo was sat out of the first two rounds. She was introduced in round three to eight, putting on a string of superb showings. Modongo was also rested in round nine, and 11, before she got that one point she needed to be sure of a medal in round 12. After that, Modongo was saved from the last two rounds to protect her perfect record and the medal.

While Modongo clinched the historic medal by playing in only 50% of the games, (seven out of 14) Onkemetse sadly did not have the luxury of 2002. In contrast, Onkemetse had to play in every round, from round one to 11, without anyone protecting her medal chances.

In fact Onkemetse would look back and realise that had she been rested after round seven, still with her record intact, she would have grabbed gold or silver medal on board one. But she had no reliever, especially after Modongo had to return home for family bereavement, leaving the women’s team with no reserve player.

Unlike Modongo who was made to play in lower boards as a medal strategy in 2002, Onkemetse was fighting in the toughest of boards, as a board one player, in contrast. However, Onkemetse would take solace in the fact that this was only her second appearance at the Chess Olympiad since her maiden appearance in 2012.

Like her 2016 Olympiad showing, Onkemetse’s 2012 Olympiad debut was the stuff of dreams, as she finished with the most points in the women’s team (5/9) that had Modongo and Tshepiso Lopang finishing the tournament with 2.5 points and two points respectively, while Ontiretse Sabure finished with 3.5 and Gorata Leso, two points.

There was more encouraging performance in the Botswana women’s team from another debutant Khumo Mooketsi, who will be proud of going four games unbeaten streak, snatching draws, as she finished the Olympiad with 2.5 points after replacing Modongo.

The Botswana women’s team is ranked 87th after this Olympiad, 17 places up. Botswana men’s team debutants Thuso Mosutha and Otsile Mapini earned themselves Candidate Master titles after scoring at least 50% each at the tournament. 

Mapini finished the Olympiad with 3.5 points from seven games, with Mosutha finishing the event with 4.5 points from the nine games he played.  

Mosutha also saw his personal ratings soar by 123 points, from 1930 to 2053 at the end of the Olympiad to become the highest rated member of the Botswana team. Mosutha’s other highlight of the Olympiad includes a five game unbeaten streak.

The Botswana men’s team led by veteran Mosenya Ndawana on board one who finished with 35% score as Botswana’s ranking fell ten places, to no 147 in the world. Ndawana’s highlight would be going four games unbeaten, including one victory and three draws. 

Another debutant Keletshabile Monnaatsheko will be proud of being the only player in the men’s team to notch three straight full points.