Africa Chess Confederation (ACC) president, Tshepiso Lopang told Mmegi Sport that Botswana players did not meet the requirements as they did not participate in the Africa Individual Championship and Africa Amateur Championship. However, she explained that the absence of local players in the two major competitions does not mean they are being sidelined.
The Africa team that will be travelling to Germany is sponsored by WR Group. "The sponsorship is fuelled by the passion that Wadim Rosenstein has for global chess. The sponsor was captivated by Cape Town’s vibrant street chess and generously gave the African team a wild card and sponsored their participation at the Rapid Team Championship,” she said.
Lopang said the sponsorship they received inspires young players and it has a long-lasting impact on both the individuals and the sponsor itself. She said there was young talent during the just-ended FIDE World Schools Team Championship from countries such as Botswana, Uganda, Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa, Madagascar, and Zambia and that was possible due to the sponsorship from the private sector.
When asked about the performance of African players at the ongoing FIDE World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, Lopang said most of the players in the continent do not play chess at a professional level. She said the players also do not have personal coaches and do not receive support from national chess federations. Some of the players who competed at the FIDE World Cup are International Master (IM) Providence Oatlhotse of Botswana and International Master (IM) Chitumbo Mwali from Zambia.
“Chess in the continent has not reached a level where we can take on the first world countries but as the Confederation, we cannot sit back, fold our arms and do nothing. We will be organising seminars in partnership with the trainers commission to train players including the youth.
The selection of beneficiaries will be based on the performance,” she said. The Africa team is led by Adly Ahmed from Egypt, Africa’s second-rated player on board two, the third-rated Bellahcene Bilel from Algeria, who will play on board three and 2023 Africa chess champion Adham Fawzy of Egypt who will be on board four. There is also Africa’s highest-rated junior Alhasadi Yousuf (Libya) in board five, Mado Panchol, the Under-20 amateur champion from South Sudan in board six, 2023 Africa Women Champion Nassr Lina from Algeria and a reserve, February Jesse from South Africa.
